20 Feb 2014

Early in the morning, buses move into Maidan and it looks as if Berkut are leaving … people are un­sure as to what is hap­pening, and the people who are giving in­form­a­tion on the stage in Maidan ask everyone to re­main calm and stay within the bar­ri­cades of Maidan. Berkut and the gov­ern­ment pub­licly an­nounce that they are armed only with rubber bullets. As un­cer­tainty rises, word spreads that armed po­lice, snipers, are on the rooftops of the build­ings sur­rounding Maidan (Hotel Ukraina among others). The shots they fire are with real bul­lets, some po­lice are seen firing AK-​47s. Snipers are shooting people who cross the peri­meter of the Maidan; people are being shot dir­ectly in the head, chest, and neck. This in­cludes shots aimed dir­ectly at medics as they rescue and carry out the wounded.

The body count of those dead from Feb. 20 stands at 82 people. Over 500 people were wounded and cared for in make­shift hos­pitals around the core of the city.