One of the main reasons protesters in Ukraine braved the cold winter for the past few months, which has led to deadly clashes with riot police, was their commitment to stand up to President Viktor Yanukovych's increasingly authoritarian rule of law and his deliberate methods of centralizing political corruption.
"Analysts say that while corruption is hardly new to Ukraine, Yanukovych and his allies used the levers of power to funnel choice political positions and government contracts to themselves, allowing them to amass personal fortunes," as reported in the Christian Science Monitor.
"Under Yanukovych, corruption has been centralized," argued Oleksandr Akymenko, a former editor for Forbes Ukraine.
Oleksandr Yanukovych, the president's son who studied dentistry before heading the head of a large construction conglomerate called Mako, has an estimated worth of $510 million. He accumulated this wealth in just three years since his father became president.
This is highly curious, particularly since the country is largely in debt, which is why President Yanukovych looked to Russia for a $15 billion dollar bailout, and shunned an expected European Union deal.
Oleksandr Yanukovych also reportedly "has majority shares in the Ukrainian Development Bank, several coal refinery plants in Donetsk and large hotels in Crimea," the Christian Science Monitor reported.
'The Family,' a moniker usually associated with a mafia clan, is how some Ukrainians derisively view the president's inner circle. "Some are pals from prison," one woman told Lawyer Herald.
Many of Yanukovych's appointees are mere cronies, who have gotten rich, while the country remains largely poor. Only oligarchs have gotten wealthy in recent years.
"The only way to make in Ukraine now is to steal it. To take somebody's business, make them pay taxes, and to basically to steal it," the Ukrainian- American woman told Lawyer Herald during the rally outside the Federal Reserve on Wednesday afternoon.
"Political analysts often point to Mr. Yanukovych's creation of a 'vertical of power' in Ukraine, much like the system Russian President Vladimir Putin is accused of creating in the Kremlin," according to news reports.
Also, "journalists accused the new management of censoring their editorial choices in order to silence critics against Yanukovych and his associates," according to news reports.
Meanwhile the European Union agreed to impose sanctions on Ukrainian officials "responsible for violence and excessive force" after the bloodiest day of clashes on Thursday.
Dozens of anti-government protesters have died in Kiev. As of late Thursday, 75 people - including policemen - have been killed since Tuesday.
Ukraine's health ministry also said that 571 were injured during three days of violence in the Ukrainian capital, BBC News reported.
Protesters captured 67 police, the interior ministry said.
"It's with anger and anguish that we have watched renewed violence on the streets of Kyiv today destroy more lives and rip apart more families. The people of Ukraine deserve far better than senseless death and suffering on the streets of one of Europe's great cities," Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement.
"President Yanukovych must undertake serious negotiations with opposition leaders immediately to establish a new interim government that will have broad support. That is the only way to begin the difficult but essential constitutional and economic reforms that Ukraine needs," Kerry added.
"Late Thursday, Vice President Joe Biden warned President Yanukovych in a telephone conversation that Washington was ready to impose sanctions against Ukrainian officials guilty of ordering troops to fire on protesters," as reported by BBC.
On Friday, Yanukovych announced early presidential elections as well as a return to to an earlier constitution. He agreed to a return to the 2004 constitution, "granting a central demand of the opposition that is designed to limit presidential powers and make Ukraine a parliamentary republic," RIA Novosti reported.
"There are no steps we should demur from taking in order to restore peace to Ukraine," Yanukovych said.
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