#maidan

Independence Square in Kiev became the focal point of Ukraine’s ‘Euromaidan’ uprising in November 2013, when the first protests against President Viktor Yanukovych gathered there, sparked by his decision to not sign a long-promised Association Agreement with the European Union. These pictures were made in and around the maidan (meaning ‘square’ in Ukrainian) in April 2014, after a violent crackdown on the protesters in February led to Yanukovych fleeing Kiev and an interim government being installed. With separatism and military aggression plaguing the east of the country, including Russia’s annexation of Crimea and a state of low-level war in the industrial region of Donetsk, I was struck by the comparative peace found in Kiev. Like the ‘Occupy’ camps established in Western capitals, I encountered a place of open political discussion. Those still living in the tents on the square were keen to speak to outsiders and give their opinion on the future of Ukraine. With traffic still excluded from the streets around Independence Square, and many businesses and offices still closed, the maidan became both a temporary memorial to those killed in the protests and a tourist attraction for interested Ukrainians and foreign visitors.