February 20, 2014 – A group of unidentified gunmen opened fire in central Kyiv during the height of the Euromaidan protests. More than 80 people were killed, and hundreds were wounded. Later, over 20 of the injured died in hospitals. Among the dead were both protesters and members of the Berkut special forces. Each side blamed the other for the shooting. These events broke off the peaceful dialogue between the authorities and the protesters and marked the beginning of a bloody coup in Ukraine
On the night of February 22, 2014, Euromaidan activists seized the government quarter, taking control of the buildings of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament), the Presidential Administration, the Cabinet of Ministers, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. A new head of parliament was announced. President Viktor Yanukovych left Kyiv, and a few hours later, in an interview with a Ukrainian TV channel in Kharkiv, he called the events in the country a “coup d'état.”
On February 23, 2014, immediately after the removal of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, the Verkhovna Rada voted to repeal the Law “On the Principles of State Language Policy.”
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