A supporter of the pro-Russian government coalition shouts during a mass rally in Independence Square, Kiev. Photograph: Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images
As the Orange Revolution swept through Ukraine in November 2004, one of the best ways of finding out at a distance what was happening on the ground was through blogs.
At the time, GU's Jane Perrone compiled lists of the best English language sites (here and here), a combination of those written by Ukrainians and foreigners based in the country.
Nearly two and a half years on, the president, Viktor Yushchenko, faces a mini-Orange Revolution of his own as supporters of the prime minister, Viktor Yanukovich, rally in Kiev to protest against the dissolution of parliament and snap elections.
So, going back to the same blogs, what do we discover?
On the most prosaic level, that lives move on. Wife and husband blogging team Tulip Girl and Postmodern Clog, both Americans, were at the very heart of things in 2004, she providing a list of what protests were taking place where and he helping to edit the pro-Yushchenko site, Maidan.
Now, they are back home and spend their time exchanging love poems and talking about Christianity.
More illustrative is the aforementioned Maidan, which shows how quickly a dissident web publication can become the official voice of the establishment.
These days, it produces anti-Yanukovich opinion pieces with clunky, Pravda-like headlines such as "The hollow sound of calls to find a compromise and return to the negotiating table" and "Why early elections are our democratic right".
For Orange Ukraine, by former resident Dan McMinn and his Ukrainian wife, the latest protests have provided the opportunity to revive the blog, despite the fact the authors are now based in Japan.
After a distinctly quiet period (one article apologising for the lack of content is titled "Site Ossification"), the blog is now providing digests to the latest crisis using other sources (here and here).
One thing that can't be avoided is that the current situation is just that bit less exciting than those heady days of November 2004, with far smaller protests.
The Neeka's Backlog blog is continuing the work it did on the Orange Revolution, but remains mindful of the differences.
One entry shows a picture of restaurant tables out on the streets all of 100 metres from "where the biggest political crisis in the former Soviet Union is currently taking place", adding:
"And the only reason the tables are empty is because it's kind of cold outside - not because it's dangerous or something."
