page_title: 2014 Hrushevskoho Street riots
section_title: 22 January
hierarchical_section_title: 2014 Hrushevskoho Street riots / Timeline of the events / 22 January
caption_attribution_description: English: Protests on Hrushevskyi street, Kiev, 22 January 2014
context_page_description: In response to anti-protest laws in Ukraine, a standoff between protesters and police began on 19 January 2014 that was precipitated by a series of riots in central Kiev on Hrushevsky Street, outside Dynamo Stadium and adjacent to the ongoing Euromaidan protests.
  During a Euromaidan rally which gathered up to 200,000 protesters, participants marched on the Verkhovna Rada and were met by police cordons. Following a tense stand-off, violence started as police confronted protesters. Protesters erected blockades to prevent the movement of government forces. Four protesters were confirmed as having died in clashes with police, three of whom were shot.
  On 28 January 2014, 9 of the 12 anti-protest laws were repealed and Prime Minister Mykola Azarov tendered his resignation and a bill offering amnesty to arrested and charged protesters was issued. On 14 February 2014, groups responsible for organizing the standoff agreed to partially unblock the street to restore traffic, but maintain the barricades and ongoing protests. Following the amnesty of protesters on 16 February 2014, police and protesters mutually receded while allowing a corridor for traffic.
context_section_description: At 6 a.m. local time on Unity Day, police shot and killed 2 protesters with live ammunition. Following news of the deaths, protesters retreated and dispersed from the vicinity of Dynamo Stadium.  This allowed police to advance and retake the area for a brief period, before being pushed back once more by protesters.
  In response to the escalating violence, police were permitted by the government to increase measures in stopping the riots and protests. Police were now able to block roads to restrict access to the city, and allowed the use of water cannons against rioters regardless of air temperature (−10 C at the time of the announcement).
  Police fired rubber rounds against journalists and cameramen that were present, and continued to throw molotov cocktails at protesters. Eyewitnesses said police were firing indiscriminately with rubber and regular bullets into the crowd periodically throughout the day, striking an unknown number of people. Hundreds were injured, and significant damage was done to cars on the scene that were set ablaze as in previous days. Journalists found numerous ammunition shells on the ground. Police and medics confirmed live rounds were used in the shooting deaths of two protesters earlier in the day. The prime minister denied that the police carried live ammunition. The co-ordinator of the protesters' medical corps said that five people had been killed, four from gunshot wounds and one in a fall. About 100 meters behind the front line, protesters erected a secondary barricade using cement planters and steel ripped from massive billboards, to slow police if they tried to chase protesters back to the square again. By evening 300 were injured and 4 dead by police gunfire.
caption: 22 January saw the most violence of the Euromaidan movement to date.
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