Protesters thwart Kyiv city government attempts to clear Maidan
Protesters are resisting the most serious attempt yet to clean up Maidan, or Independence Square, since the EuroMaidan revolution ended with the ouster of the corrupt Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych on February 22.
Dozens of remaining protesters – perhaps more than 100 – set tires on fire on Kyiv’s main square to protest the government’s attempt to free the city’s main road for traffic.
The square still has a tent city left over from the revolution. However, the protesters’ space has gradually diminished as city officials have attempted to return the area to normalcy since the May 25 election of Petro Poroshenko as president and Vitali Klitschko as mayor. A part of Khreshchatyk Street was cleared off last month.
Some 300 communal workers arrived on Maidan early on August 7, backed by cranes, to clean up the rest of the street. The workers started on both sides of Khreshchatyk – European Square closer to the Dnipro River, as well as the other side.
To read the full story, visit The Kyiv Post.
(Screenshot of standoff in Kyiv’s Independence Square from hromadske.tv)
