Kyiv commemorates people who died in the clashes on Maidan last winter.
On November 21, 2013 Viktor Yanukovych, the then president of Ukraine, ditched a plan to sign a trade agreement with the European Union and announced establishing closer ties with Russia. His decision caused a wave of nationwide protests. Kyiv’s Maidan Nezalezhnosti [Independence Square] became a main scene of fighting between protesters and pro-Yanukovych forces.
“We were on Maidan on the night of 18-19 April. A splinter of a grenade hit my back while the son’s leg was pierced, we asked for medical help then. I am her to pay the tribute to the killed. They lost the dearest – their lives,” a former protester told Belsat TV.
On February 18, 2014 the conflict erupted into violent repression and shooting at civilians. Hundreds of people were killed and injured. Mikhail Zhyzneuski, a Belarusian-born defender of Maidan, was among the first victims: he was shot dead on January 22, 2014.
