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2014 Hrushevsky Street protests
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2014 Hrushevsky Street protests
In response to anti-protest laws in Ukraine (announced on 16 January 2014 and enacted on 21 January 2014), a standoff between protesters and police began on 19 January 2014 that was precipitated by a series of riots in central Kyiv on Hrushevsky Street, outside Dynamo Stadium and adjacent to the ongoing Euromaidan protests.
During a Euromaidan rally which gathered up to 200,000 protesters, participants marched on the Verkhovna Rada and were met by police cordons. Following a tense stand-off, violence started as police confronted protesters. Protesters erected barricades to prevent the movement of government forces. Four protesters were confirmed dead in clashes with police, three of them shot.
On 28 January 2014, 9 of the 12 anti-protest laws were repealed and Prime Minister Mykola Azarov tendered his resignation and a bill offering amnesty to arrested and charged protesters was issued. On 14 February 2014, groups responsible for organizing the standoff agreed to partially unblock the street to restore traffic, but maintain the barricades and ongoing protests. Following the amnesty of protesters on 16 February 2014, police and protesters both retreated while allowing a corridor for traffic. This lasted until 18 February 2014, when thousands marched on parliament once again, reestablishing Hrushevsky Street and related streets in a new standoff with police. By 19 February 2014, all barricades had been cleared from the streets and the protesters pushed back, though violent clashes elsewhere in Kyiv continued to grow in intensity, resulting in the Revolution of Dignity.
On 19 January, a Sunday mass protest, the ninth in a row, took place gathering up to 200,000 in central Kyiv to protest the new anti-protest laws, dubbed the "Dictatorship laws". The rally was attended by opposition leaders, but was also the first public appearance of Tetiana Chornovol since her alleged attack by the authorities. Many protesters ignored the face concealment ban by wearing party masks, while others wore hard hats and gas masks. AutoMaidan leader Dmytro Bulatov demanded a single oppositional candidate be named, and the crowd also chanted against leaders to comply with this action. Batkivshchyna leaders Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Oleksandr Turchynov declared that a new, alternative parliament would be created.
Euromaidan activists appealed to the military for its "solemn allegiance to the Ukrainian people" rather than the "criminal regime", and for members of the military and police to not carry out "criminal orders", most notably in the use of force against civilians; they promised those who would be fired for refusing orders of violence would be reinstated once a new government for Ukraine was installed. Former Ukrainian Navy chief, Rear Admiral Ihor Tenyukh, who was removed by President Yanukovych in 2010, warned of the dangers posed by the "coup d'état planned by the current authorities" and called for members of the armed forces to defy "illegal" orders from those in power. "Tomorrow the regime will enslave you too. Therefore we are calling on you to fulfil your military oath of loyalty to the Ukrainian people and not to the authorities who have gone off the rails," he was quoted as saying.
Clashes began as thousands descended upon parliament via Hrushevsky Street, and were met by police cordons, and a blockade of military cars, mini-vans and buses. Police warned protestors via loudspeaker, saying, "Dear citizens, your actions are illegal and are against the state." They also warned that advancing within three meters of police would be considered a threat to police officers' rights and would prompt a response. Tensions developed, and the sides exchanged projectiles as protesters attacked the police barricade armed with sticks, pipes, helmets, and gas masks. They were met with stun and smoke grenades.
Opposition leader Vitali Klitschko attempted to bring calm to the fervor but was sprayed with a fire extinguisher by a protester from the crowd, and shouted down as a traitor. Live TV pictures showed protesters attempting to overturn a bus used by police, which was later set on fire after petrol bombs were thrown. At least three buses were overtaken by demonstrators. Water cannons used to douse the flames were also directed at protesters; an illegal use of force due to freezing temperatures. Later, rubber bullets were used against protesters as more police vehicles were set ablaze.[non-primary source needed] Up to 10,000 protestors remained near the Valeriy Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium by 10 p.m. as clashes continued with smoke filling the air from the burning vehicles. The entire line of police buses used in the blockade was set on fire, and as midnight approached, nearly everything in the square by the Dynamo Stadium was burning. Commenting on the situation, opposition MP Lesya Orobets stated, "War has finally started, laws don't apply anymore." Reports from Lviv indicated that demonstrators in Lviv, Kalush, and Ivano-Frankivsk blocked military units from deploying to Kyiv;[non-primary source needed] with a similar situation occurring in Rivne, blocking Berkut troops.[non-primary source needed] Lviv troops later thanked protesters for blocking their deployment. Automaidan activists by 3 a.m. blocked all roads exiting Yanukovych's Mezhyhyria mansion. In the early morning, protesters in central Kyiv continued supplying molotov cocktails and advanced on police cordons while fortifying barricades to their rear as police continuously used water cannons, fired rubber bullets, and jammed cell phone signals.
By the evening, Vitali Klitschko had arranged a night-time meeting with President Viktor Yanukovych at his presidential mansion Mezhyhirya in an attempt to argue for snap elections to defuse the situation from escalating into further violence. The meeting ended with Yanukovych promising to resolve the crisis with a 'special commission' that included representatives of the administration (including the president), Cabinet of Ministers, and political opposition. Arseniy Yatseniuk took to the Euromaidan stage at about 9:30 p.m. to say that he had received a telephone call from the president telling him the administration wanted to start negotiations to end the political crisis. On Monday, 20 January, the commission was announced by Party of Regions MP Hanna Herman, but that it would convene without the President and be led by National Security and Defense Council secretary Andriy Klyuyev. Opposition leaders refused to take part in the government's proposed commission provided the president abstained from them himself.
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2014 Hrushevsky Street protests
In response to anti-protest laws in Ukraine (announced on 16 January 2014 and enacted on 21 January 2014), a standoff between protesters and police began on 19 January 2014 that was precipitated by a series of riots in central Kyiv on Hrushevsky Street, outside Dynamo Stadium and adjacent to the ongoing Euromaidan protests.
During a Euromaidan rally which gathered up to 200,000 protesters, participants marched on the Verkhovna Rada and were met by police cordons. Following a tense stand-off, violence started as police confronted protesters. Protesters erected barricades to prevent the movement of government forces. Four protesters were confirmed dead in clashes with police, three of them shot.
On 28 January 2014, 9 of the 12 anti-protest laws were repealed and Prime Minister Mykola Azarov tendered his resignation and a bill offering amnesty to arrested and charged protesters was issued. On 14 February 2014, groups responsible for organizing the standoff agreed to partially unblock the street to restore traffic, but maintain the barricades and ongoing protests. Following the amnesty of protesters on 16 February 2014, police and protesters both retreated while allowing a corridor for traffic. This lasted until 18 February 2014, when thousands marched on parliament once again, reestablishing Hrushevsky Street and related streets in a new standoff with police. By 19 February 2014, all barricades had been cleared from the streets and the protesters pushed back, though violent clashes elsewhere in Kyiv continued to grow in intensity, resulting in the Revolution of Dignity.
On 19 January, a Sunday mass protest, the ninth in a row, took place gathering up to 200,000 in central Kyiv to protest the new anti-protest laws, dubbed the "Dictatorship laws". The rally was attended by opposition leaders, but was also the first public appearance of Tetiana Chornovol since her alleged attack by the authorities. Many protesters ignored the face concealment ban by wearing party masks, while others wore hard hats and gas masks. AutoMaidan leader Dmytro Bulatov demanded a single oppositional candidate be named, and the crowd also chanted against leaders to comply with this action. Batkivshchyna leaders Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Oleksandr Turchynov declared that a new, alternative parliament would be created.
Euromaidan activists appealed to the military for its "solemn allegiance to the Ukrainian people" rather than the "criminal regime", and for members of the military and police to not carry out "criminal orders", most notably in the use of force against civilians; they promised those who would be fired for refusing orders of violence would be reinstated once a new government for Ukraine was installed. Former Ukrainian Navy chief, Rear Admiral Ihor Tenyukh, who was removed by President Yanukovych in 2010, warned of the dangers posed by the "coup d'état planned by the current authorities" and called for members of the armed forces to defy "illegal" orders from those in power. "Tomorrow the regime will enslave you too. Therefore we are calling on you to fulfil your military oath of loyalty to the Ukrainian people and not to the authorities who have gone off the rails," he was quoted as saying.
Clashes began as thousands descended upon parliament via Hrushevsky Street, and were met by police cordons, and a blockade of military cars, mini-vans and buses. Police warned protestors via loudspeaker, saying, "Dear citizens, your actions are illegal and are against the state." They also warned that advancing within three meters of police would be considered a threat to police officers' rights and would prompt a response. Tensions developed, and the sides exchanged projectiles as protesters attacked the police barricade armed with sticks, pipes, helmets, and gas masks. They were met with stun and smoke grenades.
Opposition leader Vitali Klitschko attempted to bring calm to the fervor but was sprayed with a fire extinguisher by a protester from the crowd, and shouted down as a traitor. Live TV pictures showed protesters attempting to overturn a bus used by police, which was later set on fire after petrol bombs were thrown. At least three buses were overtaken by demonstrators. Water cannons used to douse the flames were also directed at protesters; an illegal use of force due to freezing temperatures. Later, rubber bullets were used against protesters as more police vehicles were set ablaze.[non-primary source needed] Up to 10,000 protestors remained near the Valeriy Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium by 10 p.m. as clashes continued with smoke filling the air from the burning vehicles. The entire line of police buses used in the blockade was set on fire, and as midnight approached, nearly everything in the square by the Dynamo Stadium was burning. Commenting on the situation, opposition MP Lesya Orobets stated, "War has finally started, laws don't apply anymore." Reports from Lviv indicated that demonstrators in Lviv, Kalush, and Ivano-Frankivsk blocked military units from deploying to Kyiv;[non-primary source needed] with a similar situation occurring in Rivne, blocking Berkut troops.[non-primary source needed] Lviv troops later thanked protesters for blocking their deployment. Automaidan activists by 3 a.m. blocked all roads exiting Yanukovych's Mezhyhyria mansion. In the early morning, protesters in central Kyiv continued supplying molotov cocktails and advanced on police cordons while fortifying barricades to their rear as police continuously used water cannons, fired rubber bullets, and jammed cell phone signals.
By the evening, Vitali Klitschko had arranged a night-time meeting with President Viktor Yanukovych at his presidential mansion Mezhyhirya in an attempt to argue for snap elections to defuse the situation from escalating into further violence. The meeting ended with Yanukovych promising to resolve the crisis with a 'special commission' that included representatives of the administration (including the president), Cabinet of Ministers, and political opposition. Arseniy Yatseniuk took to the Euromaidan stage at about 9:30 p.m. to say that he had received a telephone call from the president telling him the administration wanted to start negotiations to end the political crisis. On Monday, 20 January, the commission was announced by Party of Regions MP Hanna Herman, but that it would convene without the President and be led by National Security and Defense Council secretary Andriy Klyuyev. Opposition leaders refused to take part in the government's proposed commission provided the president abstained from them himself.
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