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Ukraine On The Brink Of Civil War

Ukraine's acting government issued an arrest warrant Monday for President Viktor Yanukovych, accusing him of mass crimes against the protestors who stood up for months against his rule. Yanukovych himself has reportedly fled to the pro-Russian Black Sea peninsula of Crimea. Calls are mounting in Ukraine to put Yanukovych on trial, after a tumultuous presidency in which he amassed powers, enriched his allies and family and cracked down on protestors. Anger boiled over last week after government snipers killed scores of protestors in Kiev during the bloodiest violence in Ukraine's post-Soviet history. The turmoil is raising fears that Ukraine could split apart. The parliament speaker is now nominally in charge of a country whose failing economy is on the brink of default and whose loyalties are sharply torn between Europe and longtime ruler Russia. David Burrow is Program Coordinator for the Department of History at the University of South Dakota. He teaches Russian and Soviet History. Tim Schorn is associate professor of political science at USD. They joined Dakota Midday to discuss the ongoing protests in the country and where the nation is headed.