Editor's Note: The Kyiv Post is providing continuous coverage of the protests in Kyiv and other cities following the government's decision on Nov. 21 to stop European Union integration and end pursuit of an association agreement. The rallies started on Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) and are continuing after the Nov. 28-29 summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, at which Ukraine and the EU failed to reach any agreement. The events can be followed on Twitter using hashtags #euromaidan and #євромайдан or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/EuroMaydan.
Read the coverage of the Dec. 3 events here.
Read the coverage of the Dec. 2 events here.
Read the morning coverage of the Dec. 1 events here, and the afternoon and evening coverage here.
Watch video of EuroMaidan events here on live stream and hromadske.tv.
Arbuzov: Government ready to discuss possibility of early elections
Dec. 4, 8:55 p.m. Deputy Prime Minister Serhiy Arbuzov told Channel 5 that the government was prepared to discuss with the opposition the issues of early presidential and parliamentary election, according to a post in oppositional Batkivshchyna’s party microblog on Twitter. — Katya Gorchinskaya
Volunteering at EuroMaidan
Dec. 4, 7:01 p.m. More than 300 medical workers volunteered to attend to protesters on Maidan Nezalezhnosti, according to their organizing committee. There are seven mobile groups made up of two to three people who move between the all the sites where strikers live and gather. — Katya Gorchinskaya
Three presidents call on Yanukovych to solve political crisis at a round table
Dec. 4, 6:30 p.m. Three presidents of Ukraine, Leonid Kravchuk, Leonid Kuchm and Viktor Yushchenko urged their successor Viktor Yanukovych to find a solution to the political stalemate at a round table with the Ukrainian society. “The way out has to be found through an open dialog with the civic society. The solution to the political crisis needs to be urgently found in the format of a national round table,” the presidents’ joint statement reads. — Katya Gorchinskaya
Activists track down riot policemen responsible for brutal attack
Dec. 4, 5:40 p.m. Activists are actively searching for riot police who were involved in the bloody Nov. 30 raid on peaceful EuroMaidan protesters at Independence Square that left dozens injured, including journalists. Photographs and videos are aiding them in their pursuit. At least one man, Yevhen Antonov Federovych, has been identified. A flyer with his photograph and personal information created by activists is circulating on social media. Activists hope their campaign will aid in bringing those officers who used brute force on demonstrators to justice. No officers have been arresed for their actions in clashes between protesters and police. Nine protesters were arrested by a Kyiv court today for two months in jail for their role in the clashes. — Christopher J. Miller
Journalists, activists to picket OSCE event in Kyiv
Dec. 4, 5:23 p.m. Journalists, activists and all citizens are calling on others to gather on Dec. 5 at 15 Brovarskiy Prospect, where Ukraine will host the 2013 Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Minsterial Council. Foreign ministers representing countries around the globe will be in attendence. Protesters believe the event is an additional tool to influence the situation in Ukraine, according to the event’s Facebook page. — Christopher J. Miller
Medicians send a letter to Internal Ministry
Dec. 4, 5:11 p.m. Several Ukrainian doctors released an open letter to Internal Ministry, Security Service asking not to attack women and elderly people. “We asked the riot police not to beat activists on the head or stomach. We also asked not to use force against medicians who helped injured protesters,” reads the letter, signed by famous Ukrainian doctor Olga Bohomolets and Oleh Musiy, the head of Ukrainian medical community. — Olena Goncharova
Protests outside of Interior Ministry
Dec. 4, 4:50 p.m. Hundreds of protesters gathered by the Interior Ministry, demanding to see Minister Vitaly Zakharchenko. Activists also demanded a list of names of Berkut officers who brutally attacked a peaceful rally on Maidan Nezalezhnosti on Nov. 30. The minister didn’t show up and protesters eged the ministry building, Ukrainska Pravda reports. — Olena Goncharova
Unidentified protesters picket the Polish embassy
Dec. 4, 4:22 p.m. Some 100 young men in track suits are picketing the Polish embassy in protest against some polish politicians who supported anti-government rallies. They are waving Ukrainian flags and hold posters reading “Stop supporting invaders” and “Let us into your building”. Many of them hid their faces with scarves. They claim that they protest against Polish involvement in Ukrainian internal affairs. — Oksana Grytsenko
Crowd swells on Maidan Nezalezhnosti
Dec 4, 4:06 p.m., Up to 10,000 people have gathered at Maidan Nezalezhnosti to socialize and organize housing there. Some of them fortify their camp, others eat lunch. Three women are positioned by the entrance to opposition headquaters at the government Trade Unions building taken over by protesters on Dec. 1.
One of them, Natalia Baran, 35, a bank worker from Drogobych in Lviv Oblast, holds a Ukrainian flag. “We left our children at home and came to protest against Yanukovych,” she said. “And we will stay here for weeks if needed.”
Her sister Oksana Muylo stands nearby. She says that they spoke to supporters of the ruling Party of Regions outside parliament today, and she feels sorry for them. “They live in a Soviet past, but we in western Ukraine know how Europe looks and want to live like people in Europe,” she said. “That’s why we are here.” — Oksana Grytsenko
Protesters head to Lukyanivske detention facility
Dec. 4, 3:42 p.m. Hundreds of protesters move from Shevchenkivsky court to Lukyanivske detention facility, singing the Ukrainian national anthem, one eyewitness reports. The crowd chants “Shame to the judge!” Earlier the court seized nine activists who authorities say participated in violent clashes near the president’s administration on Dec. 1. — Olena Goncharova
Prosecutor’s office denies any inquires to universities about students activists
Dec. 4, 3:26 p.m. Prosecutor’s office says it never demanded the information about the students of Taras Shevchenko National University, who missed the classes starting Nov. 29. “The information which appeares in some media about prosecutor’s office asking to list the information about the students who didn’t show up in the university these days is untrue. Prosecutor Yuriy Kovalchuk, whose name is in the published document, isn’t the member of the group which investigates the criminal proceeding opened after Nov. 30 events on Maidan Nezalezhnosti,” the prosecutor’s office statement reads. — Olena Goncharova
Yatseniuk warns protesters about provocations
Dec. 4, 2:20 p.m. Arseniy Yatseniuk, Batkivschyna Party’s parliamentary faction leader, warns protesters that someone may plant a dead body today on Maidan Nezalezhnosti, as the government wants to provoke protesters, Hromadske TV reports. Yatseniuk asked prosecutor’s office to check all death cases that were registered in Kyiv in last two days. — Olena Goncharova
Opposition says no round table until the government is sacked
Dec. 4, 1:40 p.m. Parliament member Serhiy Sobolev said that a round table discussion is only possible once the president sacks the government. If he fails to do it, the protesters will block government buildings round the clock, demanding the president’s resignation. That’s when they will accept international mediation, he said at an oppositional briefing — Vlad Lavrov.
Regions MP warns about provocations
Dec. 4, 1:21 p.m. Parliament member Volodymyr Oliynyk said he warned the SBU and the prosecutors about upcoming provocations from the opposition.
“Leaders of the opposition think that today mass meetings are cooling off and the situation needs to be sharpened in Ukraine, and understand that Ukrainians are very sensitive to such actions as beatings, blood and murder,” he said at a briefing in parliament. “This is why they are discussing the issue of murdering someone on Maidan, or planting a body.” — Katya Gorchinskaya
Students demand education minister Tabachnyk’s resignation
Dec. 4, 12:25 p.m. Around 500 students from Taras Shevchenko National University along with some deputies came to the Education Ministry building, chanting “Tabachnyk, goodbye,” Hromadske TV reports. Students are demanding that Education Minister Dmytro Tabachnyk resign from his position after an appeal was filed with the Prosecutor’s office for information about university students who have participated in protests. — Olena Goncharova
Protesters on Maidan Nezalezhnosti wait for instructions
Dec. 4, 11:04 a.m. Protesters on Maidan Nezalezhnosti are going about their business in the morning, busying themselves with everyday activities like reading newspaper, chatting and drinking coffee as they wait for instructions from the leaders about what to do. Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara said at a briefing on Dec. 4 that there are 7,000 protesters in the streets of Kyiv.
Opposition blocks Ukrainian parliament
Dec. 4, 11:01 a.m. The opposition on Wednesday began hindering the work of the Ukrainian parliament after it refused to dismiss the government led by Mykola Azarov.
The parliament session has not begun yet, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported. Opposition parliamentarians gathered at the assembly, some of them walked to the presidium, and several parliamentarians took their seats in the government box. — Interfax-Ukraine.
Prosecutor’s office demands information about students activists
Dec. 4, 10:45 a.m. Prosecutor’s office asked Taras Shevchenko National University administration to give the information about the students that were absent starting Nov. 29, Ukrainska Pravda reports. Prosecutor also asks to list the information about the professors who didn’t show in the university these days. Prosecutor’s office demands this information as the criminal proceeding on police brutality was opened, after riot police ousted the protesters on Maidan Nezalezhnosti on Nov. 30. — Olena Goncharova
Business as usual at the sites hosting protesters
Dec. 4, 9 a.m. It’s business as usual at the sites hosting protesters. People light fires, cook breakfast and drink coffee in the morning as they wait for instructions from the leaders. On St. Michael’s Square, a group of men who live in the nearby monastery, says they stayed up overnight and are prepared to do it for as long as it takes. They want lustration and European integration.
Eastern Partnership Program Vice President calls Ukraine delegation ‘smokescreen’
Dec. 4, 9 a.m. Eastern Partnership Program Vice President and European Parliament Member Jacek Saryusz-Wolski took to Twitter this morning to slam a plan by Ukraine’s government to send a delegation to Brussels to restart discussions regarding plans to sign an association agreement with the EU.
“Brussels visit of Ukraine’s (government) delegation (First Deputy Prime Minister Serhiy) Arbuzov) is a smokescreen to mislead #Euromaidan and keep it freezing. Should be refused,” Saryusz-Wolski wrote.
Ukraine Prime Minister Mykola Azrov said this week that Arbuzov would travel to Brussels to negotiate the deal. It is still not clear when the trip will take place. — Christopher J. Miller
Protesters claim to have taken control of another building in Kyiv
Dec. 4, 8:30 a.m. Ukrainian protesters claim to have taken control of another building in Kyiv, located on Olesia Honchara Street.
Tent camp commandant Andriy Parubiy announced the acquisition from a stage early on Wednesday morning.
Parubiy did not say whether the protesters seized the building or it was passed under their control voluntarily, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reports.
About 300 persons are staying in the building on Olesia Honchara Street now, Parubiy added. — Interfax-Ukraine
Court arrests nine suspects in riots near presidential administration for two months
Dec. 4, 7:35 a.m. Kyiv’s Shevchenkivsky District Court has decided to detain for two months all nine young people who are suspected of organizing mass riots on Bankova Street near the presidential administration on Dec. 1, Kyiv prosecutor’s spokeswoman, Yana Sobolevevska, has told Interfax-Ukraine. Read more here.
SEE KYIV POST COVERAGE OF THE NOV. 30 POLICE CRACKDOWN ON EUROMAIDAN HERE:
Interior minister justifies police attacks to EU, US ambassadors
Back to the Middle Ages on the way to Europe: Beaten Kyiv protesters take refuge in church yard
Yanukovych says police beatings not his fault
Kyiv police chief admits ordering attack on EuroMaidan protesters
Opposition under fire for failure to protect protesters
Victims describe excessive, indiscriminate attacks
Lyovochkin, Yanukovych’s chief of staff, resigns
Police say protesters provoked violence
Police attack on Kyiv’s EuroMaidan demonstrators draws international outrage
Police were ‘like a machine cleaning the street,’ says a beating victim
More than 100,000 people petition Obama for sanctions against Yanukovych
Police violently break up Independence Square protests at 4 a.m. today; many injuries reported
SEE OTHER KYIV POST EUROMAIDAN COVERAGE HERE:
EuroMaidan rallies on Nov. 29: EuroMaidan rallies in Ukraine
EuroMaidan rallies on Nov. 28: EuroMaidan rallies in Ukraine
EuroMaidan rallies on Nov. 27: EuroMaidan rallies in Ukraine
EuroMaidan rallies on Nov. 26: EuroMaidan rallies in Ukraine
EuroMaidan rallies on Nov. 25: EuroMaidan rallies in Ukraine
EuroMaidan rallies on Nov. 24: EuroMaidan rallies in Ukraine
EuroMaidan rallies from Nov. 21-23: EuroMaidan rallies in Ukraine
See also coverage of the first night of the protests: “Nine years after start of Orange Revolution, Kyivans take to streets in protest of scuttled EU deal”
