As part of the Euromaidan movement, regional state administration (RSA) buildings in various oblasts of Ukraine were occupied by protesters, starting on 23 January 2014.

[1] Ukraine had become gripped by unrest since President Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign an association agreement with the European Union on 21 November 2013.

[3] Occupiers later relinquished control of the buildings, to meet the terms of a legal amnesty for Euromaidan protesters that came into effect on 17 February, as directed by the government of Ukraine.

[4] The day after the amnesty came into effect, protesters seized control of the buildings they had previously vacated in response to a crackdown on demonstrations on the Maidan Nezalezhnosti in Kyiv by the Berkut special police force.

Opposition to the Euromaidan in largely Russophone eastern and southern Ukraine, however, led to protests by pro-Russian and anti-government groups in those regions.

[11] As a result, the Khmelnytskyi city council issued a series of demands including snap elections and the dissolution of the Berkut.

[15] In addition, a number of local administrations were blockaded but not physically overtaken, including those of Sumy, Ivano-Frankivsk, Vinnytsia, Poltava, and Zhytomyr.

[15][16] Prime Minister Azarov called the occupying force not a part of the political opposition, but rather a rebellion,[17] and president Yanukovych condemned the takeover of public buildings.

[15] Counter to the anti-government sentiment, the administration of Crimea rejected calls for a snap election and encouraged Crimeans to rebuff any attempts to seize power by the opposition.

[20][21][22] The RSA of Chernivtsi was stormed and occupied by thousands of protestors who forced Governor Mykhailo Papiev to tender his resignation.

[51][52][1] Governor Oleksandr Peklushenko emerged to announce that only "cowards and traitors" resign and vowed to retain his Party of Regions membership card "until the day I die" before disappearing back inside.

[58] The first floor of the Sumy RSA was occupied but police held the remainder in the standoff;[58] the exter Activists in Chernihiv set up a barricade, fortifying the regional administration building.

[1][51][58][66] The conflict led to instances of rioting,[67] Titushky violently beat protesters, whom they hunted down in the streets; they also wore identifiable yellow arm bands.

[70] There were also mass demonstrations in Kirovohrad but the RSA was guarded by a heavy police presence;[1][58] the leaders of the local UDAR and Svoboda parties were raided and arrested in their homes.

[75] At 12:20 a.m. on the 27th, a blockade in Cherkasy was re-established, only for police forces to later break it, arresting twelve citizens;[76][77][78] foreign journalists reporting on the scene were beaten by Berkut troops.

[80][83] Eleven citizens were arrested in connection with the three-day blockade of Sumy's RSA following a late night dispersal where 300 internal troops beat protesters.

[96] Protesters occupying the RSA in Chernihiv agreed to withdraw from the building after deputies agreed to support the demands of the opposition; a statement was made by both opposition and ruling government politicians supporting the removal of the anti-protest laws and amnesty for Euromaidan activists and political prisoners.

[80] The barricade in front of the Uzhhorod RSA was fully lifted from both sides, with security forces leaving and protesters peacefully convening, not impeding state workers.

[108] Pro-government supporters also arrived and changed, "Fascists will not pass;"[109] crowds dispersed by 2:30 p.m.[110] Twenty-six activists of the Zaporozhye meetings of 26 Jan 2014 were sentenced to remain under house arrest (among them two for 24 hours a day) until the final court decision.

[113] On 1 February, the barricades around the RSA in Vinnytsia were partially dismantled for fire safety purposes; protesters said they would only be fully removed once the governor met their demands.

[115] On 5 February, President Viktor Yanukovych officially dismissed Borys Klimchuk as Volyn Oblast governor and appointed Oleksandr Bashkalenko to this post.

[118] The Ivano-Frankivsk regional administration resumed operation while several dozen former occupiers remained posted in the square in front of the building.

[134] In Odesa about 100 unidentified men wearing masks and helmets and armed with baseball bats assaulted a pro-European opposition demonstration near the regional administration headquarters.

[154][155] In Poltava, a thousand protesters clashed with police outside the RSA,[156][157] and then issued an ultimatum that if they were not allowed entry they would barricade the building and prevent it from functioning.

[122] In Cherkasy Oblast about 500 residents of the town Mankivka, city of Uman set up a checkpoint on the highway from Odesa to Kyiv, near Podibna.

[80][170] The head of the SBU in Khmelnytsky region resigned as a result of the deaths that occurred while repelling protesters with live ammunition.

[80] Members of Right Sector and self-defence units seized ammunition and supplies from the Internal Troops base, which was surrendered voluntarily by officers.

[175][176] Rallies continued in Sumy, demanding security forces to withdraw from Kyiv, members of the opposition entered the RSA for negotiations.

Odesa remained barricaded with concrete, and Dnipropetrovsk with barbed wire, while Donetsk was reinforced with metal doors and Krivohrad with sandbags.

[195][196][197] In response to these measures, the Presidium of the Supreme Council of Crimea (the Crimean parliament) banned the activities and symbols of the Svoboda party on its territory on 27 January 2014.