As part of the Euromaidan movement, regional state administration (RSA) buildings in various oblasts (regions) of Ukraine were occupied by activists, starting on 23 January 2014. Background Ukraine became gripped by unrest since President Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign an association agreement with the European Union on 21 November 2013. A widespread movement known as 'Euromaidan' demanded closer ties with the European Union, and the ousting of President Yanukovych. Significant support for the movement built in western Ukrainian oblasts as the severity of the unrest in Kyiv grew. As a result, protesters in these regions began to seize control of the oblast governor's offices, known as regional state administration (RSA) buildings. By 27 January, ten of the country's twenty-seven RSAs had been overthrown, and others had come under threat. 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. 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. After the Euromaidan movement was successful in overthrowing the government of Victor Yanukovych on 22 February, RSA occupations by Euromaidan activists gradually ceased. 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. Protesters there quickly began to attempt to occupy RSA buildings in a similar manner. Timeline of the occupations 23 January Following a standoff between protesters and government forces in Kyiv on 23 January, tensions flared as anti-government forces mobilized and overtook the Regional State Administration (RSA) of a number of western Ukrainian cities, with some local governors being forced to file letters of resignation. By the afternoon, the administrations of Lviv, Rivne and Ternopil, and Khmelnytskyi were also in the hands of anti-government protesters. In Lviv, around 2,000 protesters stormed the RSA building shouting "Revolution!" Governor Oleg Salo, a presidential appointee, signed a letter of resignation as a result of the takeover. The mayor of Lviv, in response, declared that none of the 'Black Thursday' laws would ever apply on the territory of Lviv. Ternopil city council denounced the 'Black Thursday' laws and demanded they be repealed. Activists in Khmelnytskyi erected barricades and surrounded the Khmelnytskyi