Ukraine Protesters Create 'Fortress' to Resist Feared Attack

Building up barricades several meters high guarded by activists in body armor, Ukrainian protesters have turned their Kiev protest camp into a fortress they believe will be impossible to conquer without the greatest force.

In a scene recalling the fortified towns of the Middle Ages, protesters have built the barricades to protect their self-contained protest zone centered around the hub of Independence Square in central Kiev.

There have been barricades almost throughout the over two months of demonstrations against President Viktor Yanukovych which has seen protesters occupy Independence Square in Kiev, known locally as the Maidan.

But after this week's deadly clashes, the barricades were strengthened and now stand up to five meters (16 feet) high in some places.

Activists worked flat out overnight, scraping up snow from the streets, pouring it into sandbags and then piling them together into massive walls.

"We are here to protect our country from the occupier Yanukovych," said Leonid Symchuk, 54, from the Vinnytsya region, wearing camouflage, with a mask over his face and a helmet.

"We have one desire -- to protect our country."

He expressed confidence that his barricade on Institutskaya Street leading to the presidency would be able to withstand almost any attack from the security forces.

"It will definitely withstand the first hit and then people will come from the Maidan to fight it out."

"Now there is such a gang in power that we have no other choice. Either they stay or we do."

With temperatures below minus 10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit), water was poured onto the sandbags which immediately froze to act as cement.

The entrances have been narrowed and can be rapidly sealed in the event of an attack.

Passers-by still come and go freely but are closely watched by men who stand by the entrances, sometimes wearing ski helmets and balaclavas and even bulletproof jackets.

One of the protest guards, who gave his name as Yevgeny, said a plan had already been worked out about what to do in case of an attack.

"If there is an assault, if they try to storm the barricade then we will prepare Molotov cocktails with petrol, oil and glass bottles and we will throw them."

"The security forces will only be able to get to the Maidan with a bulldozer. Otherwise they won't be able to."

The protesters expanded the barricades overnight even closer to the site of the presidential administration on Bankovaya Street, creating a new wall topped with barbed wire.

There was a lull in clashes Friday prompting a relaxation of tensions of previous days. Curious onlookers walked through the fortress zone, taking souvenir pictures of themselves by the barricades.

But rumors fizzed that Yanukovych was still planning to introduce a state of emergency and the protest camp could be stormed at any time by the elite Berkut security force.

"Yes we are scared, but we have no other choice. We will fight. If we give way now, how are we going to live on?" said Mykola Siroshtan, 35, from the Cherkasy region south of Kiev.

Before the protests began on November 21, this was Ukraine's social and commercial hub with traffic clogging Khreshchatyk Avenue and shoppers filling its fashionable boutiques.

Now there are the protesters' tents rather than cars and most shops closed for "technical reasons" at the height of the clashes.

Pensioner Natalya Lyubimenko, 66, clutching a spade she had been using to dig snow for the barricades said:

"If we give way to them now, then people are never going to be able to hold their heads high. We will stand here, there is nowhere else to go."