Follow the Escalation of Ukraine’s #Euromaidan Protests Live · Global Voices
Tetyana Bohdanova

This post is part of our Special Coverage Ukraine's #Euromaidan Protests.
Protests in Ukraine escalated to a deadly stand-off between hundreds of thousands of citizens and government forces in the evening of February 18. Roads to the city were blocked by authorities, and the metro in Kyiv were stopped. The main opposition TV channel reported being taken off air. Fierce clashes between police and protesters around the main square continued through the night. On February 19, the Kyiv Post reported that at least 25 people are dead and more than 1,000 are injured.
In the morning of February 18, 2014, Ukraine's opposition tried to register a bill in Parliament to bring back the old version of the country's Constitution, one that significantly limits presidential powers. The move was backed by the nearly three-months-old Euromaidan movement, which has been protesting daily in several cities throughout Ukraine demanding that the government of President Viktor Yanukovych step down.
Ahead of the session, the protesters marched to the Parliament building. When the speaker of the parliament refused to register the bill, clashes broke out between the people and the police. MPs who support President Yanukovych had left the building, while the president himself was nowhere to be found. Police and special forces then stormed Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independance Square), the protesters’ stronghold.
President Yanukovych has made a statement blaming the opposition for the violence and police crackdown. Overnight negotiations between the protesters and the government failed and protesters once again reclaimed Independence Square in Kyiv on February 19.
A screenshot from Maidan Nezalezhnosti [Independance Square] in central Kyiv, Ukraine. Feb. 19, 2014
EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso released a video statement regarding the latest developments in Ukraine and also tweeted:
Following developments in #Ukraine w/ shock & utter dismay. We expect targeted measures agreed by our #EU MS urgently http://t.co/nsy4JsSKhA
— José Manuel Barroso (@BarrosoEU) February 19, 2014
Citizens and independent media still turning to Internet tools to cover what is happening on the ground and get the news of the atrocities happening in Ukraine to the rest of the world. Live streams of the clashes and protests from Kyiv are available on several online channels:
RFE/RL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObBHW8XQvUQ
Espreso-TV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Y_LFrMcoEm4
SpilnoTV: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/16555296
HromadskeTV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dh3_1L9XO60
UkrStreamTV: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/16573315, http://www.ustream.tv/channel/17251372
Twitter is also a popular online venue for following updates directly from Kyiv. Global Voices has compiled a list of some of the Twitter accounts with English-language coverage of current events in Ukraine:
https://twitter.com/zeitonline/lists/ukraine
https://twitter.com/ckaratnytsky/lists/ukraine
https://twitter.com/juliacreinhart/lists/ukraine-russia
https://twitter.com/zeynep/lists/ukraine
https://twitter.com/rm867/lists/ukraine-euromaidan
Euromaidan volunteer translators are busier than ever, translating as many updates from the scene of the protests. The most popular blog and Facebook page is that of Maidan Translations:
http://maidantranslations.wordpress.com/
https://www.facebook.com/EuroMaydanTranslations
Updates from the organizers of the protests, dubbed Euromaidan headquarters, can be followed on their Facebook account in English:
https://www.facebook.com/euromaidanpr