2014 Euromaidan regional state administration occupations

Euromaidan regional state administration (RSA) occupations
Part of the Euromaidan movement
Overview of all occupations.
Date	23 January – 17 February 2014 (first wave) 18–26 February 2014 (second wave)
Location	Ukraine
Causes	Support for the Euromaidan movement Adoption of strict anti-protest laws
Goals	Removal of Victor Yanukovych and his supporting regional governors
Methods	Occupation of administrative buildings Blockades
Result	Buildings relinquished after amnesty law (first wave) Removal of Victor Yanukovych and the Second Azarov Government, repeal of anti-protest laws (second wave)

As part of the Euromaidan movement, regional state administration (RSA) buildings in various oblasts (regions) of Ukraine were occupied by activists, starting on 23 January 2014.

Ukraine became gripped by unrest since President Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign an association agreement with the European Union on 21 November 2013. A widespread movement known as 'Euromaidan' demanded closer ties with the European Union, and the ousting of President Yanukovych. Significant support for the movement built in western Ukrainian oblasts as the severity of the unrest in Kiev grew. As a result, protesters in these regions began to seize control of the oblast governor's offices, known as regional state administration (RSA) buildings.

By 27 January, ten of the country's twenty-seven RSAs had been overthrown, and others had come under threat.

Occupiers later relinquished control of the buildings, to meet the terms of a legal amnesty for Euromaidan protesters that came into effect on 17 February, as directed by the government of Ukraine. The day after the amnesty came into effect, protesters seized control of the buildings they had previously vacated in response to a crackdown on demonstrations on the Maidan Nezalezhnosti in Kiev by the Berkut special police force.

After the Euromaidan movement was successful in overthrowing the government of Victor Yanukovych on 22 February, RSA occupations by Euromaidan activists gradually ceased. Opposition to the Euromaidan in largely Russophone eastern and southern Ukraine, however, led to protests by pro-Russian and anti-government groups in those regions. Protesters there quickly began to attempt to occupy RSA buildings in a similar manner.