On 22nd January, the streets of Kyiv saw a march to commemorate the first victims of the Maidan protests – which was reported by Ukrainian media. Ukrainian non-governmental organisations, including the Open Dialogue Foundation, called for a joint march. The commemoration events were joined by many residents of the capital city too.
Media such as the SocPortal wrote about the march, encouraging the ones who would not be able to join it to light candles in their homes and in churches. The gazeta.ua portal, in turn, estimated that the Maidan had gathered about a thousand people who came to pay tribute to the first heroes who perished, such as Michael Zhyznevski or Roman Senyk. The internet portal tyzhden.ua noted that the participants had about 150 flags from various regions of Ukraine.
The SocKraina TV Channel interviewed Anastasia Chornogorska of the Open Dialogue Foundation, and in the ‘Yedyna Kraina’ programme she talked about the meaning of the first victims for the development of the protest. According to Chornogorska, the first four victims became a line which divided the Maidan into the periods of a peaceful protest and that of a brutal revolution.
Source: SocPortal, Kreschatic Kiev, SocKraina TV Channel, 1+1 TV channel, 1 national channel, Day Kiev Newspaper, Portal UkrPohliad, Gazeta.ua, Novoye Vremya Portal, Radio Liberty, Tyzhden Portal, UA Racurs portal