A protest against Ukraine’s planned lockdown after the New Year’s holiday has ended in injuries after demonstrators clashed with police on Kyiv’s central Independence Square.
According to the National Police, around 40 officers suffered chemical burns to their eyes when protesters unleashed tear gas canisters against them. One officer received a blow to the head during the clash and lost consciousness.
Protesters also suffered injuries, although their exact number was not clear. At publication time, ambulances had arrived at the scene to provide treatment to injured demonstrators. Participants in the protest also said that several demonstrators had been hospitalized, the UNIAN news agency reported.
Since it first imposed a lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in April, Ukraine has seen many protests by small business owners, employees and others who oppose quarantine measures they believe do too much harm to the economy. But never before have the demonstrations turned so violent.
The confrontation comes as Ukraine plans to return to strict lockdown. After two months of rapidly increasing numbers of new COVID-19 cases, on Dec. 9, the Ukrainian government announced it would impose a new lockdown from Jan. 8 through Jan. 24.
On Dec. 15, anti-lockdown protesters affiliated with the Save Individual Entrepreneurs movement gathered near the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, for a rally branded as “STOP Lockdown.” Besides opposing lockdown, they also called for an end to quarantine measures affecting small businesses and demanded that the Rada pass draft laws protecting the country’s simplified tax regime for independent entrepreneurs.
Protesters then migrated to the President’s Office and shut down Kyiv’s central Khreshchatyk Street, before arriving at Independence Square, the Liga.Net news site reported.
Clashes erupted when protesters attempted to pitch tents on Independence Square — a reference to the 2013-2014 EuroMaidan protests that eventually toppled corrupt former President Viktor Yanukovych — and police tried to stop them.
Small business owners and other critics of Ukraine’s quarantine measures set up tents on Independence Square in central Kyiv at a rally against lockdown and other measures meant to stop the spread of COVID-19 on Dec. 15, 2020. (Oleg Petrasiuk)
A day earlier, the government announced new quarantine restrictions that will come into force on Dec. 19, weeks before the lockdown.
Under the new regulations, Ukraine will ban mass events in schools, restaurants and entertainment venues. It will also restrict the number of people allowed in cultural institutions and religious services and ban restaurants from working between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.
Unlike in some Western countries, in Ukraine small businesses that can’t operate during lockdown receive almost no aid from the state. For the upcoming lockdown, the government will offer modest one-time compensation of Hr 8,000 ($288) to the individual entrepreneurs whose businesses will be affected.
Read more: Government imposes new COVID-19 restrictions starting Dec. 19
