In the Ukrainian town of Lviv, 500 kilometers from the capital Kyiv, protesters surround a military barracks. They do not want the soldiers stationed there to travel to Kyiv and join the harsh crackdown on protesters there.

Many mothers of soldiers inside hold up signs with messages warning their sons that they will be forced to fire and kill people in Kyiv.

The mothers brave the cold temperatures – minus five Celsius during the day, minus 14 at night – to make sure their sons do not leave.

Lidiya Semerenko, a mother of a soldier serving in Lviv, told euronews what happened to one of her son’s colleagues who was beaten outside the barracks: “...his attackers accused him of being a pro-government thug who attacked demonstrators. He was beaten up. My son is 25 .. I’m scared for him,” she said.

Those convicted of blocking the movement of military personnel could face up to three years in jail, though.

Mykhaylo Dubyak, euronews correspondent, in Lviv said: “The tragic news in Kyiv mobilised even more people from here in Lviv. Activists are surrounding and blocking three military units. They received a piece of paper with a message from the soldiers urging them to say there: ‘Stay there blocking us in, do not leave. The military chiefs want us to go’.”