15 terrifying images from Kiev’s 2014 Maidan revolution

Burning tires, barricades of rubble and blood on the pavement – RT presents the most striking photos from last February’s Maidan riots in Ukraine, which turned the capital Kiev into a warzone and led to an armed coup in the country.

1. With police carrying batons and riot shields, and protesters metal clubs and home-made protective gear – their clashes at times looked more befitting of a medieval battle field than a modern city.

2. The equipment of the riot police failed to provide any significant protection from Molotov cocktails, widely used by the protesters, with numerous officers being turned into human torches on the streets of Kiev.

3. The more rowdy protesters used every means available to provoke the police. At times it seemed like their sole aim was to escalate the violence.

4. Thousands came out to Maidan frustrated by the president’s decision to postpone the signing on an association agreement with the EU.

5. The rioters employed a variety of unconventional weapons against the police, with metal chains being especially effective given their added reach.

6. Law enforcement officers responded to the violence caused by the rioters by beating and detaining numerous protestors on Kiev’s Independence Square (Maidan) and nearby streets.

7. The recipe for a Molotov cocktail is simple and thousands of these so-called “poor man’s grenades” were hurled at the police during the Maidan riots.

8. This is no celebration! Colorful fireworks became a dangerous weapon in the hands of the Maidan rioters.

9. Dead bodies soon became a common picture in the heart of the Ukrainian capital as unidentified snipers were allegedly firing at both the protesters and security officers.

10. As the tensions kept rising on Maidan, both rioters and the police switched from hand-held weapons to firearms.

11. Darkness never completely descended on Independence Square no matter the hour, with burning barricades used to keep security officers at bay blazing through the night.

12. Skeletons of burned-out vehicles and heaps of tires made perfect makeshift material for the barricades.

13. Around a hundred people are believed to have lost their lives during the peak of the Maidan riots on February 18-21, 2014.

14. Kiev’s streets were ripped up by protesters to replenish their stock of stones to hurl at riot police.

15. Central Kiev woke up in ruins after the riots, with the scale of devastation making it hard to believe that the square used to be one of the city’s main tourist attractions.

Kiev's Maidan square before and after the revolution