Protesters stand their ground in Kyiv's Independence Square

  • 11 years ago
The day after Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko was freed from prison and address a massive crowd in Kyiv, Independence Square was calm.

Thousands of opposition supporters stayed on the Square overnight singing patriotic songs after several days of bloodshed that claimed nearly a hundred lives.

Maidan was peaceful as the sun rose on Sunday. People mused over the previous day’s sudden collapse of Ukraine’s political regime.

One protester said: “My opinion is that we should not destroy the barricades until we replace all authorities, we shouldn’t bring them down under any circumstances.

“The beast is wounded but we don’t know what this wounded beast will be doing,” she added.

Zoriana, a Lviv resident, said: “Only today coming here you can feel how scary it is… and very sad that the authority which we applauded and voted for allowed this bloodshed.”

Earlier, coffins were displayed in front of the crowd as priests prayed. People gathered in front of makeshift shrines mourning dozens of protesters who were shot dead in two days of gun battles last week.

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