Protesters rid Kyiv of Lenin statue

A monument to Vladimir Lenin that stood on Kyiv's Shevchenko Blvd. was taken down 6 p.m. by a group of radical protesters using a steel wire rope. The group then decapitated the statue, chanting "Yanukovych is next!" and singing the Urkainian national anthem. Now they are breaking it into pieces using a sledgehammer.

The infamous Lenin statue has often been the focal point of protests. The statue had its nose and arm broken, and has been the scene of numerous fights during nationalist and communist anniversairies. Last week, an attempt to take down the Lenin statue was prevented by a team of Berkut special police. Although the police were heavily beaten and feld from the site, replacements moved in to protect the statue, and the situation was diffused through negotiations.