With chants of "help Ukraine, help Ukraine" bellowing on this rainy Wednesday afternoon, Ukrainians in New York City gathered en masse at the Federal Reserve Bank on Wednesday afternoon in response to the deadly violence that erupted between riot police and protesters in Kiev on Tuesday night, which killed at least 25 and injured hundreds more.
In late November, peaceful protests began in Kiev's Independence Square to challenge the authoritarian leadership of its President Viktor Yanukovych. The president's turning away from a long anticipated deal with the European Union in exchange for a $15 billion bailout from Russia prompted protests from ordinary Ukrainians ever since then.
Protesters "accused Yanukovych and his supporters in parliament of stalling constitutional reforms that would limit the president's power," as reported in The Associated Press.
"[We're here at the Federal Reserve] because we are asking for sanctions, we are asking for freezing of assets by the U.S. government against the people responsible for the violence in Ukraine," said Andrij Dobriansky, the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America.
"The U.S. Senate passed on January 7 that if violence was perpetrated against peaceful protesters, there would be sanctions," he added.
Resolution 319, as passed by Congress stipulated: "The President and Congress should consider whether to apply to apply targeted sanctions, including visa bans and asset freezes against individuals responsible for ordering or carrying out the violence."
On February 14, the House of Representatives passed HR 447 which "support[s] the Democratic and European Aspiration of the People of Ukraine."
The European Union leaders also condemned what they called "the unjustified use of excessive force by the Ukrainian authorities" and said they were urgently preparing targeted sanctions against officials responsible for the crackdown.
By late Wednesday afternoon, the Obama administration said that it had placed 20 top Ukrainian officials on a visa blacklist.
