Protesters on Friday seized a Government building in the Ukrainian capital while also maintaining their siege of several Governors’ offices in the country’s west, raising the pressure on the Government.
After meeting with President Viktor Yanukovych for several hours late on Thursday, Opposition leaders told the crowds that he had promised to ensure the release of dozens of protesters detained after clashes with police, and stop further detentions. They urged the protesters to maintain a shaky truce following violent street battles in the capital, but were booed by demonstrators eager to resume clashes with police.
The truce has held, but early on Friday protesters broke into the downtown building of the Ministry of Agricultural Policy, meeting no resistance. “We need to keep people warm in the frost,” said one of the protesters, Andriy Moiseenko. “We cannot have people sleeping in tents all the time.” The demonstrators allowed ministry workers to take their possessions, but wouldn’t allow them to go to work.