Kyiv Tent City

I headed back to Kyiv this week because Matt's 90 days in Ukraine had run out and he had to fly back to the United States earlier than me so I went with him to Kyiv. We took the morning train the day before his flight so we had the afternoon to walk around before he flew out the next day. We stayed a bit down Khreschatyk, the main street in Kyiv, and got to see a new side of the city which was nice. We also got to see the tent city where all the people protesting former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's imprisonment live. She was charged with abuse of power, accused of working against the country’s interests by signing a deal to buy Russian natural gas while in office in 2009 at prices that prosecutors say were inflated and sentenced to seven years in prison which she is serving in a women's prison in Kharkiv. 

The impressive tent city located down Khreschatyk from Independence Square and what is more impressive is that these people stood out there every day talking about political repression in Ukraine no matter what the weather was like outside. When we were there it was freezing, and around 15 degrees and there were a bunch of people talking to passersby about the repression. I overhead one protester yelling to woman and her child who were trying to brush her off that she should think about the future of Ukraine for her child.

Approaching the tent city.

 The sign says no political repression.

 This sign says the same thing but has her picture.

Calling for a Yulia revolution in Ukraine.

 Anti-Yanukovich signs where you can be the one punching him or have him kiss your hand!

 This one says Freedom for Political Prisoners. 

This is the view of the tent city from across the street. As you can see it is huge and takes up an entire city block.