During the winter "Baptism of Fire" (Hrushetskyi street protests) in 2014, which marked the decisive and most intense phase of the confrontation between the protesters and the security forces, as well as pro-government proxies (the so-called "titushky") in the heart of the capital, it was difficult to imagine what could connect the Revolution of Dignity, as a phenomenon, with the Museum of the Second World War, as a specialized institution. However, despite the uncertainty of the situation, there was a subconscious sense of the historic significance of this event, which undoubtedly led Ukrainians into a completely new historical reality. Out of their own volition, museum professionals decided to collect and document what was happening around them. Soon, the gathered artifacts would lay the foundation for a fundamental transformation and the future progress of the Memorial. The collections of materials from Oleg Mikhniuk, Ruslan Borovyk, Dmytro Hodzenko, Max Levin, Roman Ratushny (a recent addition to the collection), and many other heroes of the Maidan, who were among the first to voluntarily take up arms and march to the front lines or fight against the enemy in occupied territories, established the theme of the Russo-Ukrainian struggle as one of the leading directions of the museum’s scientific work.
Among the collection of items from the Revolution of Dignity is a traffic light that was once installed at the corner of Khreshchatyk and Instytutska Streets. In February 2014, it was damaged. Most likely, this occurred between February 18 and 20, when more than a hundred protesters were killed and several thousand injured.
On February 18, during the clashes, Yanukovych’s "thugs" captured all the barricades on Instytutska Street and pushed people back to Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square). Despite the assault with armored personnel carriers, flashbangs, and shotguns, the protesters managed to hold the barricade on Khreshchatyk (from the direction of European Square), using broken cobblestones and Molotov cocktails for protection. From 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM, protesters built another (final) barricade on Instytutska Street (within Maidan Nezalezhnosti), which withstood the government forces’ attack.
The critical moment came on the night of February 19, when the authorities managed to capture the barricade on Khreshchatyk and set fire to the barricade on Instytutska Street, the protesters’ camp, and the Trade Unions Building. It was likely during this time that the traffic light suffered significant damage.
Despite all the cataclysms and upheavals of the last decade, for Ukrainians, the beacon of freedom, a self-sufficient and dignified life, still shines — a beacon forged by the Revolution of Dignity and the Russo-Ukrainian war.