Potentially Violent Rally and March in Downtown Kyiv - US Embassy Kyiv Warden Message - October 26, 2007

The ultra-nationalist group Patriots of Ukraine will be conducting a march and rally in downtown Kyiv on Saturday, October 27. The rally will be held at St. Sofiisky Square at 10:00 am.

According to information from the Patriots of Ukraine website, the march route will be: Sofiisky Square - Sofiisky Street, Volodymyrska Street - Taras Shevchenko Boulevard, Ivan Franko Street - Bogdan Khmelnitsky Street.

We wish to remind American citizens that even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and possibly escalate into violence. American citizens are strongly urged to avoid areas in and around the march route and rally area and to exercise an increased level of security awareness. Members of such ultra-nationalist groups have been associated with violent assaults on minorities in Kyiv in the past. Recently, a Bangladeshi national was murdered and three Chinese nationals were stabbed in Kyiv after a similar group rallied and marched on October 14, 2007.

For the latest security information, Americans living and traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs web site at http://travel.state.gov, where the current Worldwide Cautions, Public Announcements, and Travel Warnings can be found. Up-to-date information on security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S., or, for callers outside the U.S. and Canada, a regular toll line at 1-317-472-2328. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).

In the event further information is obtained regarding this or any other security or safety situation in Ukraine, the Embassy will provide updates via this same channel and on the Embassy’s web page: http://kyiv.usembassy.gov. American citizens who need to contact the Embassy may do so during working hours by calling American Citizens Services unit at (38-044) 490-4445 or the main Embassy telephone number at (38-044) 490-4000. The Embassy’s duty officer may be reached after hours via this same number, or by contacting (38-050) 311-1796.