The "overthrow" of Yanukovych in 2014 was hardly by force. Yanukovych fled because his Parliament expressed no confidence in him, and because he didn't feel like dealing with some protests. It would be like Biden fleeing America because Congress condemned him and some Trump supporters with a few guns camped out in DC. More of an abdication than a coup.
This is not true - the opposition together with three ministers of international affairs has crafted an agreement which would allow him to peacefully transfer presidential power (already violating rights of his voters), and then the protesters has continued overthrowing him regardless.
Even if he just flew for no apparent reason as you say, this does not a stable and peaceful democracy make.
None of that contradicts what I pointed out. He fled because he doesn't care about Ukraine. He now has his dream, pampered and anonymous somewhere in Russia. He never says a word.
What's a country supposed to do when its leader doesn't feel like working anymore? Doesn't sound like a coup to me.
Whenever I point out the reality of 2014 Ukraine on HN, it always degenerates with the other person making some kind of weak, petty counterclaim like this. Nobody can ever admit a simple point.
Why do you care so much about this coup narrative that falls apart under the slightest scrutiny?
> It would be like Biden fleeing America because Congress condemned him and some Trump supporters with a few guns camped out in DC. More of an abdication than a coup.
No national leader this weak and incompetent can reasonably expect to remain in power. When your people hate your decisions and protest, you have to do something to satisfy them, or they might become ungovernable. That's on you, not on them or on foreigners.
Unsurprisingly, large majorities of Ukrainians regard Yanukovich as the worst leader they've ever had.
The question is, does having a democratically elected national leader so weak and incompetent a stable democracy make?
An obvious answer is "no", in this sense, Ukraine have always been a failure politically. Some outside parties may benefit from Ukraine's sorry state, but that's it. I wonder if you are able to draw a different picture.
And before you ask, it seems that American democracy is in a bad condition too, but not nearly as bad yet.
It is obvious that when you have points of weakness, bad things happen to you (Russia knows it like no other), so the point of a stable democratic countries is to not have significant points of weakness.
