“Dec. 9, 1:02 p.m. A top government source confirmed to the Kyiv Post that a decision was taken to use force against protesters. The attack seems imminent, but no details are available at the moment.” –Katya Gorchinskaya

“Dec. 9, 12:58 p.m. Government workers have been evacuted from the Kyiv city center as police in riot gear move in a set up barricades on Khreschatyk Street, according to a source in the European Union delegation to Ukraine who asked that he remain anonymous because he was not allowed to speak publicly.” — Christopher J. Miller

My friend who returned to Lviv for a couple and is now back on Maidan had told me that Monday was going to be the dangerous day. Especially Monday night. Fewer people.

He said the protesters had multiple levels of barricades and had even engineered sheets of ice as a security barrier. Organized groups of Afghanistan war veterans were providing some more formal security. There is free food and free winter clothes for protesters.

Of course, they cannot muster of level of violence that the state has, but I keep reminding myself that their goal isn’t military victory, it’s spectacle and sympathy.

If the state unleashes deadly force against the protesters (which I still consider unlikely), western Ukraine will secede, and that will be a good thing.