More people gather in central Kyiv ahead of further rallies
KYIV. Nov 3 (Interfax) - The situation remains calm on Independence Square in the center of Kyiv on Tuesday morning as pro-EU demonstrators warm themselves around fires and prepare to stage rallies outside the headquarters of the Ukrainian cabinet and parliament.
More than 5,000 people are currently present on Independence Square and nearby Khreshchatyk Street as air temperatures hover around 3 degrees below freezing, an Interfax correspondent reported.
Some of the demonstrators told the Interfax reporter that the number of protesters had grown last night after more people had arrived in Kyiv from the country's regions.
Warm clothes and other necessary items were brought to the square last night.
Rumors started to circulate among protesters at around 1:00 a.m. alleging a larger presence of Internal Troops soldiers near the Ukrainian presidential administration offices, located on Institutskaya and Lyuteranskaya Streets. But these claims were not confirmed in the morning. The number of policemen present in the area remains unchanged.
Opposition Batkivshchyna faction parliamentarian Oleksandr Turchinov said in Independence Square on Monday evening that columns of demonstrators would be formed on the square on Tuesday morning in order to stage rallies outside the cabinet and parliament buildings.
