Ukraine's leading English-language newspaper since 1995

Kyiv landmark becomes home base for Yushchenko supporters; food, tea, lodging and cell-phone charging available

a multi-purpose command center on the site – a warm home base where Viktor Yushchenko supporters can find coffee, tea, food, and places to rest.

The public building, a Kyiv landmark, is the first taken over by the opposition. It was occupied by a delegation led by opposition deputy Oleh Thanyeok, from Lviv. The occupiers met no resistance in taking over the premises.

Protestors from Ukraine’s regions in town for the duration of protests can find temporary housing through a special booth set up in the building, an imposing Soviet-era structure that used to be Kyiv’s Lenin Museum.

Ukrainian universities whose students are participating in the almost million-strong protests have set up booths that coordinate student movements and protest activities. Lviv’s Ukrainian Catholic University is one such school. One hundred and twenty of its students are already in Kyiv, with more busloads on the way, according to the institution’s representatives at the Ukraine House.

The opposition command center even offers stations where protestors and journalists can recharge their cell phones.

Late on the evening of Nov. 24, Ukraine House was filled with hundreds of people eating, drinking hot liquids, resting and talking.

When asked to comment on the fact that the opposition had occupied a major Kyiv building, Viktor Yanukovych’s press secretary, Hanna German, told the Post: “I’m sleeping, I’m tired, I’m resting. I don’t know anything about a revolution.”

Asked if she was still press secretary for Yanukovych, she responded in the affirmative.