For three weeks, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian protesters have been flooding the streets of Kiev, occupying government buildings and taking over the city’s Independence Square. Initially, the demonstrators were expressing discontent at President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to pull out of a deal that would bring Ukraine closer to joining the European Union.
After an initial brutal police crackdown, the protests have grown in size and are now more about toppling the government and putting an end to corruption than joining the EU. The police have tried and failed to clear the tent city that has sprung up in the Independence Square—also known as the Maidan—and the occupied city hall that has been dubbed the “Revolution HQ.” Protesters remain in the streets, despite the below zero temperatures.
