19 January on 19 January 2014 in Kyiv near Hrushevskoho Street on fire on 19 January 2014 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. 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. 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. 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. 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." with a similar situation occurring in
Rivne, blocking Berkut troops. Lviv troops later thanked protesters for blocking their deployment. Automaidan activists by 3 a.m. blocked all roads exiting Yanukovych's Mezhyhyria mansion.
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. Opposition leaders refused to take part in the government's proposed commission provided the president abstained from them himself.
20 January erected by protestors in Hrusehvskoho Street, Kyiv Clashes continued into the second day, with thousands remaining on
Hrushevskoho Street, continuing to exchange explosives and rocks with police. Of the 5,000 protesters present in the conflict area at the gates of the Dynamo Stadium near
Mariinskyi Park, 200 were seen engaging the 500 riot police without stopping by the afternoon. Later in the day, a group of protesters assembled an 8-foot high
trebuchet to
hurl rocks and other projectiles at police ranks. In retaliation, police lobbed flash grenades, rocks, and
Molotov cocktails at protesters. Police snipers scattered over the rooftops in the area but were exposed with fireworks and lasers.
21 January In the twilight hours of 21 January, after the anti-protest laws had taken legal effect, President Yanukovych ordered a 'bloody crackdown', with police warning over loudspeakers that they might use weapons. Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko signed an executive order authorizing the use of physical force,
special devices, and firearms. Protesters received
text messages from their service providers stating "Dear subscriber, you've been registered as participant in the mass disturbances." Responsibility for the messages was denied by the providers, two of which were owned by Russian companies. Experts suggested the government was behind the cell network actions. Hundreds of armed "
titushky" were reported by eyewitnesses in the vicinity, attacking protesters and passers-by, as well as smashing vehicles; some were reportedly transported into the city on the back of large trucks showing no license plates. Soon thereafter, they occupied many of the streets of downtown Kyiv. In one incident,
Vitali Klitschko appeared on Franko Street: upon seeing him, the
titushky fled. Klitschko then disarmed twotwo of them who confessed to him that they were brought into the city from
Kherson and ordered to smash cars and bring chaos to the city. Automaidan activists detained other
titushky in downtown Kyiv who admitted they were promised a payment of UAH 220 ($27) to vandalize the city. A number of the
titushky, who were apprehended by the protestors, were joined by political opposition leaders and brought to the opposition's headquarters at the Trades Union Building. They were questioned on live television, confessing their actions and job for the government to incite violence and anarchy. The rounding up of
titushky was referred to as the
titushky safari. Berkut troops continued to throw molotov cocktails at protesters. Nearing 4 a.m., the bells of St. Michael's Cathedral sounded its bells in alarm, as it did on the night of 30 November police crackdown on the Maidan. Meanwhile, the standoff continued with police until noon, when a ceasefire began between roughly 500 police officers and 1,000 protesters and priests standing within the buffer. Police fired rubber rounds against journalists and cameramen that were present, and continued to throw molotov cocktails at protesters. Eyewitnesses said police were firing indiscriminately with rubber and regular bullets into the crowd periodically throughout the day, striking an unknown number of people. Hundreds were injured, and significant damage was done to cars on the scene that were set ablaze as in previous days. Journalists found numerous ammunition shells on the ground. Police and medics confirmed live rounds were used in the shooting deaths of two protesters earlier in the day. The prime minister denied that the police carried live ammunition. The co-ordinator of the protesters' medical corps said that five people had been killed, four from gunshot wounds and one in a fall. By evening 300 were injured and four dead by police gunfire. The fire was caused by the burning
rubber tires that blocked the vulytsia Hrushevskoho. In a video leaked to YouTube, Interior Ministry troops tortured and humiliated a Euromaidan activist on Hrushevsky street; he was stripped naked in the cold after being beaten, and photographed by officers. The video was in close proximity, indicating that it was leaked by an officer, a sign of discontent within police ranks. On 23 January reports surfaced that riot police were engaging in the use of improvised grenades, taping nails and other shrapnel to conventional
stun grenades. On 23 January 2014,
Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine officially apologized for the "unacceptable actions of people in police uniform" in the scandalous video filming a naked detainee. Following peace talks with president Yanukovych, opposition leaders Klitschko and Tyahnybok addressed the crowd on Hrushevsky Street to announce a proposed truce with the government in exchange for the release of all arrested or detained protesters. The news was poorly received by the crowd, who chanted "liar!" and "Freedom or death!" and booed the leaders. Tyahnybok, who favored the truce, warned that the president stated his intentions to arrest 1,000 activists over the coming five days, and that repressions were ahead should a deal not be reached. Klitschko then called for a national strike, stating he was ready to sacrifice himself. A vote was then held with the crowd which resulted in cutting off talks with Yanukovych and enlarging the area of Euromaidan in Kyiv to include Hrushevsky Street.
24–25 January Anti-government protesters built three new barricades on
Hrushevskoho Street to protect the Euromaidan protest camp on Independence Square. Reports suggested a possible rift between the Euromaidan camp and the more radical participants on Hrushevsky Street.
Verkhovna Rada chairman
Volodymyr Rybak stated on Rada TV that the issue of introducing a
state of emergency would not be raised at 28 January extraordinary session of parliament since "The only issue that will be raised at the special session will be the current situation. The situation is very difficult, and we will consider the peaceful solution to the political crisis in Ukraine". Overnight, clashes flared at times but both sides held their positions and by 5 a.m. a temporary truce was made, and by morning the scene was relatively calm. However, by 10:30 a.m. fighting broke out. Fires from burning tires stretched 70 meters across the street, and flames five meters high divided the sides. Berkut police were reported to be firing on protesters once again blindly through the smoke, and using search lights to peer through. Protesters outside created a corridor for police to evacuate the building of their own volition, and the stand-off lasted for six hours until finally police surrendered the building after a peace was brokered by Vitali Klitschko. Anti-government protesters who occupied the building claimed to have discovered spent cartridges on the roof, and alleged that police who occupied the building until that morning might have used the rooftop to shoot at demonstrators on 22 January.
28 January–17 February On 28 January, Prime Minister
Mykola Azarov turned in his resignation to President
Viktor Yanukovych, hours before a vote of no confidence could have removed Azarov from power. The resignation also removed the entire administration from power, which President Yanukovych confirmed by signing a decree dismissing the rest of Azarov's cabinet. On 2 February, 5,000 gathered on Hrushevskoho to support the standoff. The faceoff was described by the Kyiv Post as "not likely to end soon." On 6 February thousands (according to an
UNIAN correspondent about three to four thousand) Ukrainian opposition activists, some carrying shields and baseball bats, marched from their camp on
Maidan Nezalezhnosti to the
Verkhovna Rada building (according to
BBC News) in a show of force. According to (commandant of Euromaidan)
Andriy Parubiy the march had a warning character, and if authorities did not consider the demands of Euromaidan, the actions would have a more decisive character "the next time". On 14 February,
Right Sector, in compliance with the amnesty law freeing protesters, agreed to restore traffic on Hrushevsky Street. All members of the UNSO left the scene. At the same time, the Right Sector demanded the immediate closure of all criminal cases against protesters, saying "Unless this is done as soon as possible, we reserve the right to act at our own discretion." The Maidan council also agreed to restore traffic; "This does not mean that we are surrendering the buildings, this does not mean that we are pulling down the barricades, this means that we will partially unblock Hrushevsky Street to restore traffic," Maidan activist of Andrew Dzyndzia said, and reiterated that protesters would remain on Hrushevskoho Street. On 17 February an activist was stabbed in the lung after he crossed into the police-controlled side the barricades. ==Participants==