A series of riots occurred in several locations of downtown Kyiv, Ukraine, on 1 December 2013 in response to a police crackdown on Euromaidan's protesters and journalist on the night of 30 November. The day saw the highest numbers of journalists injured by police in a single event since Ukraine's independence regain in 1991. Also, 1 December became the first instance of a public building being occupied by protesters in modern history of the country.
30 November attack on protesters
On the night of 30 November 2013 at 04:00, armed with batons, stun grenades, and tear gas, Berkut special police units attacked and dispersed all protesters from Maidan Nezalezhnosti while suppressing mobile phone communications. The police attacked not only the protesters (most of whom did not or failed to put up resistance) but also other civilians in the vicinity of Maidan Nezalezhnosti, when the Berkut forces chased unarmed people several hundreds of meters and continued to beat them with batons and feet. Initially, 35 people were injured as a result of the militia raid, including a Reuters cameraman and a photographer. Other protesters were detained. Most of the protesters were students. At 09:20 Berkut besieged the St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery where approximately 50 Euromaidan activists, including the injured, found sanctuary. Police spokeswoman Olha Bilyk justified the police raid by saying that protesters were interfering with preparations to decorate the square for the Christmas and New Year's holidays, and accused them of throwing stones and burning logs. Minister of Internal Affairs Vitaliy Zakharchenko later apologized and claimed "riot police abused their power" and promised a thorough investigation. Via state television he added "if there are calls for mass disturbances, then we will react to this harshly".
In an official statement, Ukrainian Deputy Prosecutor General Anatoliy Pryshko confirmed that 79 people were injured during the raid, including 6 students, 4 reporters, and 2 foreigners; 10 people were hospitalized. In addition, 7 policemen were also injured.
On 30 November 2013 by 13:00 another spontaneous meeting was taking place at St. Michael's Square near the St. Michael's Monastery as Maidan Nezalezhnosti continued to be guarded by the Berkut formations. Ambassadors from some ten countries of the European Union, among which was the Ambassador of the European Union in Ukraine, Jan Tombiński, visited protesters at the meeting. According to Hromadske.TV, by 16:00 the meeting gathered some 5,000 people who were shouting "Won't forgive", and "Revolution". At St. Michael Square protesters started to form units of self-resistance. Approximately 10,000 protesters remained in the evening of the 30th, with an estimated 10,000 more from Lviv travelling to Kyiv on Saturday night.
On 30 November opposition parties Batkivshchyna, UDAR and Svoboda set up "Headquarters of National Resistance" throughout Ukraine.
1 December riots
On 1 December, Kyiv's District Administrative Court banned further protests in downtown Kyiv at both Maidan Nezalezhnosti and European Square, as well as in front of the Presidential Administration and Interior Ministry buildings, until 7 January 2014. Opposition forces planned the rally on the 1st to take place at St. Michael's Square, which is not among the banned rally locations, with a march towards Maidan Nezalezhnosti. During 1 December rally, protesters followed through and defied the ban and marched form St. Michael's Square to re-take Maidan Nezalezhnosti. Protesters broke several windows in the city council building, followed by crowds spilling out of Maidan Nezalezhnosti to the Presidential Administration building at Bankova Street and the Cabinet building (Hrushevskoho Street). People chanted "Out with the thugs" and sang the Ukrainian anthem. The opposition party Batkivshchyna claimed as much as 500,000 protesters turned out for the rallies, and opposition leader Petro Poroshenko claimed 350,000 were on Maidan Nezalezhnosti. Other news agencies reported over 100,000 in Maidan Nezalezhnosti alone, and the total number of protesters to be from 400,000 to 800,000. One poll had 70% of the surge in protesters attributable to the violence of 30 November.