Twenty years ago, on March 9, 2000, 11 young adults (aged 19 to 24) who forcibly occupied the Communist Party headquarters in Kyiv surrendered after a 13-hour stand-off with Internal Affairs Ministry police. The protesters issued a series of demands, including a ban on the Communist Party of Ukraine, and threatened to immolate themselves in the building if their demands were not met.
After the stand-off, none of the demands were met and the protesters were escorted to police vehicles after they voluntarily left the building. However, a member of the group said that its occupation had succeeded in bringing attention to the group’s cause.