UKRAINE: Pro-EU protesters in Kiev say they will continue to rally until Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich leaves office

Record ID: 346854

  • Title: UKRAINE: Pro-EU protesters in Kiev say they will continue to rally until Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich leaves office
  • Date: 2nd December 2013
  • Summary: KIEV, UKRAINE (DECEMBER 2, 2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS ON MAIDAN (SQUARE) VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS HOLDING UKRAINIAN AND EU FLAGS (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) KIEV PROTESTER, OLGA BYCHIKHINA, SAYING: "I am against the authorities, I am against our criminal president. On TV they say that we have salaries of 3200 hryvnias (388 dollars), but I can tell you that no one has
  • Embargoed: 17th December 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ukraine
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVADY34Q2DFU2N5VSEW2V5WERAQS
  • Story Text: Thousands of protesters continued to rally on Kiev's Independence Square on Monday (December 2), saying they wouldn't leave until Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich resigned.
    About 1,000 protesters blocked off the Ukrainian government's main headquarters on Monday to protest its decision to suspend moves to deepen integration with Europe and to revive economic ties with Russia.
    In response to an opposition call for a nationwide strike over President Viktor Yanukovich's U-turn on Europe, protesters gathered outside the cabinet building in the capital Kiev and lined the street with obstacles, including flower pots and rubbish bins, to prevent government workers from getting inside.
    On Kiev's Independence Square protesters continued to camp out in tents, saying they wouldn't leave until the country's authorities resigned.

    "I am against the authorities, I am against our criminal president. On TV they say that we have salaries of 3200 hryvnias (388 dollars), but I can tell you that no one has this salary. In the provinces people are starving," Kiev protester Olga Bychkhina said.

    "I'll stay until the end. I have nothing to lose. I have a granddaughter, I have adult children - at least let them have a good life," Kiev protester Nikolai Kovalenko said.
    Near the Cabinet of Ministers building another protester, Andriy Menek, continued calls for the country's authorities to resign.

    "The government should resign and all the other authorities. All of us are fed up. We will stand to the end," Menek said.
    Witnesses said a pro-Europe rally in Kiev on Sunday attracted about 350,000 people, the biggest protest in the capital since the "Orange Revolution" of nine years ago. Protesters called for Yanukovich to resign.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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