Maidan Nezalezhnosti, Kyiv
The square of the Revolution of Dignity: from the first protests on 21 November 2013 to the shootings of 18–20 February 2014; next to it, the Alley of the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred.
On 21 November 2013 the Azarov government announced it was halting preparations for the association agreement with the EU — and that same evening the first people came out to the Maidan. On the night of 30 November the Berkut riot police dispersed the students: officially 94 people were injured, and the next day hundreds of thousands took to the streets. On 22 January 2014 the first died on Hrushevskoho Street — Serhiy Nihoyan and Mykhailo Zhyznevsky. 18–20 February were the bloodiest: 28 protesters died in two days, and on 20 February snipers on Instytutska killed 48 more and wounded over 80. The dead are called the Heavenly Hundred; 20 February is the Day of the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred under decree No. 69/2015. Right Sector also arose on the Maidan, on 28 November 2013. The Alley of the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred is the former stretch of Instytutska climbing up from the Maidan. In February 2014 the video "22" by Oleksandr Yarmak and MC ToF openly took the side of the Maidan; eight years later the rapper volunteered for the army. On the Maidan the wounded were rescued by Yuliia Paievska “Taira”, who later wrote a course in tactical medicine.
Central Kyiv, Maidan Nezalezhnosti metro station. The Alley of the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred runs up Instytutska from the Maidan, with open-air memorial signs; on 20 February commemorations open to all are held here (Maidan Museum, 09.02.2026). Kyiv is regularly attacked, and in September strikes also reached the centre: on 25.09.2026 in the Shevchenkivskyi and Pecherskyi districts (Obozrevatel, 25.09.2026) and on the night of 27.09.2026 in Shevchenkivskyi (Telegraf, 27.09.2026). During an air-raid alert — shelter in the metro.