Acting mayor of Kyiv Oleksandr Popov visited protesters on Maidan Nezalezhnosti early in the morning on Nov. 26 on his way to work. Protesters here are in the sixth day of staging a rally to demand that Ukraine sign a far-reaching political association and free trade pact with the European Union.
“He thanked us and
asked whether any aid is needed, in particular, biotoilets,”
Marichka Padalko, a TV host and activist, wrote on her facebook page.
She also said that
Popov promised to set up a tent for heating and “asked to not
perceive his visit as anything political.”
Yegor
Sobolev, a coordinator of EuroMaidan activities, said that this is
not the first official visit protesters have had recently. He said an emergencies ministry
official offered a tent for heating as well.
“We accepted, and
there will be a doctor sitting there. It’s very cold today,” he
says.
Temperatures dropped to almost zero degrees Celsius on Nov. 24, and the
weather forecast is not favorable. Sobolev asked volunteers to donate
warm clothes. “Maidan does not need any food, but needs hats and
warm gloves – it’s very cold today,” he said.
Activists on EuroMaidan speculated that the attention of officials
might not be accidental. They said it may be a sign that the
government is either changing its mind about signing an association agreement with the EU in Vilnius on Nov. 28-29, or trying
to compromise the protest.
In Lviv, however, city mayor Andriy Sadoviy has been in the middle of
pro-European protests since Nov. 21, when the government canceled
its own decision to prepare for signing a trade deal with the EU at the
Eastern Partnership summit this week.
Sadoviy has campaigned actively against the decision in public addresses and by helping out demonstrators that have been out in
the streets by the tens of thousands for the past five days.
In one of his addresses to the residents of Lviv, Sadoviy said that
“defense of the state course towards European integration is a
direct responsibility for every citizen of Ukraine, every one of
them!”
Sadoviy has also called for student strikes in Lviv – a call that
was eagerly supported. Early on Nov. 26, students from Lviv blocked
the Kyiv-Lviv highway, and are currently on the way to Kyiv to join
EuroMaidan, according to local media.
