On July 23, Tymoshenko supporters faced off with demonstrators supposedly loyal to President Viktor Yanukovych, her bitter rival. Using giant stacks of amplifiers, the two groups blasted anthems and slogans at eachother.
Tymoshenko’s supporters, mostly older Ukrainians passionately defended their beloved leader with flags, photographs and homemade posters.
On the other side of the road, men in suits roamed through a neat grid of flag bearers, occasionally yanking a teenager back in place, or looking suspiciously across the barricades they had erected around them.
It is suspected, and from what I saw it seems to be true, that Yanukovych allies paid these “protestors” for their time.
Protestors gathered in front of shops on Khreshchatyk – Kyiv’s main street.
The majority of pro-Tymoshenko ralliers were old women.
For the most part, the rally remained peaceful with demonstrators calmly holding signs and photographs.
Police enforced the narrow separation zone between the opposing sides.
Police guarded the entrance to the courthouse.
Yanukovych’s protestors seemed largely uninterested in what they were doing.
More pictures from the rally you can find here.
Alissa Ambrose is a photographer and multimedia journalist based in Brooklyn, New York. You can read her blog entries at http://alissaambrose.com/kiev-blog/
