President Yanukovych still had to meet several key demands of the opposition (including early presidential elections) and that talks will continue. At a later news conference, Yatsenyuk said "we are not throwing out the proposal, but we are not accepting it, either. We are conducting serious consultations among three opposition forces". About an hour after the opposition leaders spoke the Hrushevskoho Street riots continued. Spilna Sprava, a militant splinter of Euromaidan, occupied and later evacuated the Ministry of Justice after Justice Minister Olena Lukash threatened to push for imposing a state of emergency. On 27 January, the Ministry of Defense announced sharp pay raises for military personnel, and the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a secret resolution to increase the size of the Berkut & Gryffon force sixfold to 30,000; they would also be given more power and a reserve fund would be set aside for additional ammunition. The Ministry of Justice then ordered the legalization of vigilante "civic patrols", which would apply to titushky. The government was reportedly planning to close off 30 streets in Kyiv, with the Cabinet preparing to introduce martial law. 28 January–5 February 2014 On 28 January, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov tendered his resignation to a special emergency session of the Verhovna Rada called by President Viktor Yanukovych. The President subsequently accepted the resignation and signed a decree dismissing the Cabinet, which decree would not take effect until the Verhovna Rada approved a new Cabinet. Hence the Second Azarov Government continued as a caretaker government. Azarov was replaced by Deputy Prime Minister Serhiy Arbuzov. Hours after resigning, Azarov fled the country to Austria with no intent on returning in the near future. Oleh Tyahnybok, leader of Svoboda, stated that Mr. Azarov had resigned in the face of a looming no-confidence vote that he was bound to lose. In addition, the Party of Regions joined with opposition deputies to repeal 9 of the 12 anti-protest laws passed on 16 January. Opposition deputies compromised by approving more limited versions of some of the repealed restrictions. For example, a provision for criminalizing the destruction of monuments was reinstated, but was limited only to monuments of fighters against fascism, such as those commemorated in World War II statues. Destruction of statues of Lenin would no longer be a criminal offence. On 29 January, despite pledging to honor agreements with Ukraine, Russia restarted tight border controls and other restrictions at the