Snow and relative calm swept over the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv early on Monday morning, Dec. 9, after a raucous Sunday that saw hundreds of thousands storm the city’s streets to demand the resignations of President Viktor Yanukovych and the country’s government in the largest public protest since demonstrations began on Nov. 21, after plans to sign association and free trade deals with the European Union were abandoned.
In perhaps the
most visible sign of growing outrage here toward authorities, a group of about
100 radical protesters toppled a decades-old statue of Soviet Union founder
Vladimir Lenin. The nationalist and opposition party Svoboda were named as responsible for the event, but they did not formally take responsibility.
But while
the scene around Independence Square where protesters have gathered for more
than three weeks may be tranquil, inside Kyiv’s city hall and Trade Union
building, which have acted as a makeshift “revolution headquarters” since they were
seized by activists on Dec. 1, a few hundred men are preparing for a looming
takeover by law enforcement.
A Kyiv
court on Dec. 4 ordered protesters to leave the premises or face eviction. It
is unclear exactly how the government plans to enforce the order. The Ministry
of Interior was not immediately available for comment on the matter.
But many
believe the eviction will be served with brute force similar to that employed against
peaceful protesters camped out on Independence Square in the early morning
hours on Nov. 30.
Some 15
buses filled with police in riot gear were stopped by activists in the Kyiv suburb
of Vasylkiv this morning, reportedly on their way to the city center. As of
noon they were still stopped near a gas station there.
Vitaliy Kupriy, a lawyer for Svoboda, said that an attempt to forcefully remove protesters from inside Kyiv city hall was imminent. Police were preparing water cannons and gathering en masse at locations surrounding the building, he said, but the group of about 200-300 men were prepared to defend the site.
Kateryna Kruk,
who worked as a press secretary for the Verkhovna Rada before quitting her job
on the first day of public protests here on Nov. 21, told the Kyiv Post that
men with military experience this morning were instructing other burly male volunteers
on effective methods of protecting the government buildings from possible
police raids.
At 11:55
a.m., she said that everyone who was not involved in the defense of the
building had been asked to leave. “Just the men who are defending the building,
with some priests and journalists, are staying inside,” she said. “We’re
expecting (police) to try and take over today or at night.”
But
law enforcement might serve the eviction notice sooner.
Iryna
Gerashchenko, a member
of parliament from opposition UDAR party, wrote
on Facebook just before noon that Berkut, special riot police, were
gathering near a public market on Khreshchatyk, a few hundred meters from the
city hall building.
“Force may
be used on protesters who block government buildings,” she said.
A Kyiv Post reporter at the building confirmed that protesters were being asked to leave the building, with those planning to defend it told to move to the first floor. By 12:30 p.m., at least three buses with police in riot gear had arrived near the TSUM shopping center.
Follow events as they unfold here.
