UKRAINE: Snow-made barricades start to melt as warmer weather arrives in Kiev, bringing up questions of how much longer the protesters could hold on to their fortified stronghold

Record ID: 659413

  • Title: UKRAINE: Snow-made barricades start to melt as warmer weather arrives in Kiev, bringing up questions of how much longer the protesters could hold on to their fortified stronghold
  • Date: 11th February 2014
  • Summary: RIOT POLICE STANDING AROUND BRAZIER NEAR BARRICADES PROTESTER LOOKING AT RIOT POLICE
  • Embargoed: 26th February 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ukraine
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA2P1TA3DBBID4TP4B3GFHL8626
  • Story Text: Temperatures rose above zero degrees Celsius (32F) on Tuesday (February 11) in Ukrainian capital Kiev. While this would usually be a good news, it may soon become a new problem for the protesters who built their barricades out of snow and ice.
    When Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich favoured closer ties with Russia over a free trade deal with the European Union in November last year, protesters created a protest zone in the centre of Kiev which they fortified with bags filled up with snow and ice.
    But temperatures rose above zero degrees Celsius at the weekend (February 8-9) and the barricades started to melt.
    Even worse for the protesters, temperatures are set to remain above zero all week, according to the Ukrainian weather agency.
    Water turns to ice because it freezes at zero degrees Celsius.
    The political crisis has been at a deadlock for weeks and the irony of the situation is not lost on Kiev resident Sergei. The weather may well bring a solution to a situation that had become inextricable for the politicians involved, he said.

    "Eighty percent of the barricades are made of snow and ice. So all these will melt and the problem of barricade will resolve itself," Sergei said.
    Ukrainian opposition is pressing for constitutional changes that would re-balance powers - now heavily weighted towards the presidency - between the president, government and parliament. They want to remove Yanukovich from power and have called for snap elections.
    Protesters by the barricades vow to continue the fight.

    "Barricades are melting but we are not. We are brave people, we will stay till the very end. We can't stand that sort of life any more," pensioner Anatoly said.

    "If they (riot police) provoke us first, we will defend ourselves. What else is there for us to do?" Slava, another protester said.
    What started as a spontaneous pro-EU movement has become an anti-government rally with many protesters now demanding the departure of Yanukovich from power.
    The protests have highlighted Ukraine's historical divide. In the east, subject to the Russian empire for centuries, many people speak Russian as their first language and see Moscow as a source of stability. In the west, some see Russians as imperialists who oppressed their country in the Soviet era.
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