The Orange Revolution - 20. Associates revealed who convinced Yushchenko to prepare for the Maidan.

After Viktor Yushchenko decided to run for the presidency of Ukraine in 2004, his staff, Volodymyr Filenko and Taras Stetskyi, advised him to prepare for protests.

The central headquarters of 'Our Ukraine' did not support Filenko and Stetskyi's idea that Yushchenko should become a candidate of the people. The headquarters insisted that people's candidates never win elections.

The problem also became the necessity to prepare for mass protests, despite the headquarters initially not seeing the need for this. However, Ivan Plyushch decided to intervene and addressed Yushchenko with the words:

Viktor, you are fooling around! The guys are right. Don't you understand that it will be just as they say? There will be deception and falsehood! You will win, but they will paint it that you lost

It later became clear that Plyushch was correct, as Yushchenko was indeed 'painted' as the loser, but his supporters were already ready to hold protests.

The revolution that changed Ukraine

On November 21, 2004, the Orange Revolution began - the first mass protest in independent Ukraine. On the anniversary of these events, Ukrainians share memories from those days and publish photos from the Maidan on social networks.

Among the materials prepared by 'Glavkom' for the anniversary of the Orange Revolution is an interview with Roman Bezsmertnyi, one of Viktor Yushchenko's closest associates. He analyzes the reasons for the movement's defeat, internal conflicts, and the prerequisites for Viktor Yanukovych's revenge.

Also, 'Glavkom' mentions the symbolism of the orange movement and its fate after the revolution.