Protesters in Kiev Topple Lenin Statue as Rallies Grow
Tearing Down Lenin’s Statue in Kiev: Protests in Ukraine’s capital, which have grown steadily for weeks, reached new heights on Sunday when demonstrators toppled a statue of Vladimir Lenin.
KIEV, Ukraine — Public protests thundered into a full-throttle civil uprising in Ukraine on Sunday, as hundreds of thousands of protesters answered President Viktor F. Yanukovich’s dismissiveness with their biggest rally so far, demanding that he and his government resign.
At the height of the unrest on Sunday night, a seething crowd toppled
and smashed a statue of Lenin, the most prominent monument to the
Communist leader in Kiev. The act was heavy with symbolism, underscoring
the protesters’ rage at Russia over its role in the events that first
prompted the protests: Mr. Yanukovich’s abrupt refusal to sign sweeping
political and free-trade agreements with the European Union.
After an electrifying assembly in Independence Square in the center of
Kiev, the main focus of the protests, the huge crowd surged across the
capital, erecting barriers to block the streets around the presidential
headquarters and pitching huge tents in strategic intersections. They
were not challenged by the police, who have largely disengaged since
their bloody crackdown on a group of protesters on Nov. 30 sharply
increased outrage at the government.
International concern over the unrest in Ukraine appeared to deepen on
Sunday, as the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, telephoned
Mr. Yanukovich and Western leaders continued to call on him to respond
to the demonstrators’ demands. The European Union has been eager to draw
Ukraine, a nation of 46 million, into closer alliance with the West,
while Russia has sought to safeguard its major economic and political
interests in its close neighbor. Making the crisis more acute, Ukraine
is teetering on the verge of bankruptcy and is desperate for financial
assistance from abroad.
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