The porch of Kyiv City Hall looks very strange indeed. Typically empty and guarded by bored uniformed security officers, it's a buzzing hive of activity now, after it was taken over by anti-government protesters on Dec. 1, along with the Trade Union House on Maidan Nezalezhnosti.
City Hall is now known as the Headquarters of National Resistance. Its entrance carries a warning that people under alcoholic intoxication are strictly forbidden from entering. Another warning says bringing alcohol in is also taboo. Hundreds are walking in and out of the building, which now has developed its own rhythm of life and structure.
There are guards at the door and inside, cooks and care-takers all around, as well as a medical unit, a press center and the main office where lawmakers receive visitors round the clock, according to announcements taped all around the building.
There is even a pianist playing in the corner of the grand hall of the building, adorned by chandeliers and carrying the unmistakable hallmarks of 1950s decorating.
Some people are sleeping along the walls, adding to the surreal overall impression. A lonely pensioner, who said her name was Galina Pavlovna, stands by a column with a hand-written poster, saying “I love EuroMaidan.”
Her feelings are not shared by the government, though. Several top government officials issued warnings to protesters to free state-owned buildings, or else. General Prosecutor Viktor Pshonka issued a warning on Dec. 3 that “any manifestations of contempt to law will get a corresponding legal evaluation.”
The government’s legal machine has already started punishing some of the protesters. On Dec. 3, a Kyiv court arrested nine alleged organizers of mass riots on Dec. 1. They can get up to eight years in jail, some members of the opposition fear.
It seems almost ironic now, that the government has lost control over the City Hall building after having a strong grip on the city for a long time. The building houses the city council and the mayor, both elected by people, according to the constitution.
However, the previous mayor resigned in July 2012, while the powers of the city council ran out in July 2013. The last elections were held in 2008, two years earlier than scheduled, amid corruption allegations.
But in May, Ukraine’s Constitutional Court ruled that the next city council elections should be held in 2015. The date for mayoral election has not been set. Opposition and civil society accuse the government of pressuring the Constitutional Court to stall city elections which would most likely sweep pro-presidential parties out of the council, and elect an anti-government mayor.
In the meantime, Kyiv has been run by Oleksandr Popov, a presidential appointee, who heads the city administration, an executive body.
The strikers who run the City Hall are worried that the government will try to reclaim the building by force any time. Ruslan Andriyko, the chief of protesters’ guard at the City Hall, says the building is prepared for attacks of law enforcers. “We expect them any minute,” he says, without elaborating how they will be dealt with. He says that the building is nevertheless heavily guarded, and the number of guards is doubled at night.
Some of those are sleeping right here, on piles of duvets and throws donated by Kyivans. Just a few meters to the side, a medical unit is receiving a new patient, who complains about an eye problem.
Doctor Yevhen Oliynyk, who is on duty in the morning of Dec. 4, says he and other volunteers attended to 150 protesters yesterday. Most of them have sore throats from too much shouting and colds. “I tell them all to eat garlic,” he says with a smile.
He says a lot of people are suffering from various stomach problems because of bad food and poor hygiene.
Kyiv Post deputy chief editor Katya Gorchinskaya can be reached at [email protected].
