he Kyiv mayor’s office has been leading an operation to dismantle the protest camp at Independence Square, or Maidan, in the centre of the Ukrainian capital.<br /><br />The Maidan was the centre of mass protests that began in November 2013 and eventually led to the ouster of Ukranian President Viktor Yanukovich in February. <br /><br />A few hundred demonstrators still occupy a camp on the square.<br /><br />Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko told reporters: “Step by step, we, with the help of talks, by negotiating, are convincing them [the demonstrators] to resolve this key issue, so Kyiv can get back to a normal way of life.”<br /><br />There were clashes as some of the demonstrators refused to abandon the square. <br /><br />They say they want the new Ukrainian authorities to remember how they got into power and be accountable to the people.<br /><br />“Nothing the government was supposed to do has been done,” said Vladimir, an activist from Odessa. “There’s no law to hold people responsible for all those who died here.”<br /><br />More than 120 people died in clashes between demonstrators and police during the height of the protests in early 2014.<br /><br />The Maidan protests were initially sparked by Yanukovych’s u-turn on a long-planned association agreement between Ukraine and the European Union.
