Near the end of Khreschatyk street, one of Kiev's largest and busiest roads a barricade has been built near where the "Maidan Nezalezhnosti" or "Independence Square" begins. Students and activists gathere wood, park benches, tires and whatever else they could find to build a barrier to protect the occupiers of the square from police raids.
Police or "Internal Ministry" forces as they are officially called and known as in Ukraine form a cordon at the start of Hrushevs'koho street where Ukraine's Parliament is housed. Temperatures at the beginning of December reached wel below zero but police forces were made to stand for hours in the snow to prevent protestors from reaching government buildings.
An exhausted member of the Internal Ministry forces rests in one of the buses used to barricade government buildings on Hrushevsk'koho street. Many young men join the forces due to a lack of opportunities in a country which for years already has been on the verge of bankruptcy.
A view of Independence Square in Kiev with at it's centre the Independence Column and on top of it the patron Saint of Kiev, Mikhail. Even though temperatures were below freezing and snow and sleet covered the marble pavement making it very slippery people managed to set up tents and kitchens to provide for the occupiers.
Food was constantly being cooked and prepared in and around Independence Square, mostly by women. Entrepreneurs and supporters provided many ingredients and farmers provided potatoes. In the background older men, looking patriotic hold a Ukrainian flag with the name of their city marked on it.
On december 3rd 2013 protests started by students in Kiev reached a violent climax. After having failed to sign a trade agreement with the European Union at the last moment the Yanukovych government seemed in peril. Thousands of people started occupying the Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in the centre of Kiev. What was normally a busy intersection in Kiev government disctrict was now a field of tents, food stalls and protestors.
No one could have ever foreseen the dramatic turn of events that would take place following that cold december in Kiev.
