This episode covers the period from 17:26 to 19:39 February 18, 2014 – the period of preparing for the evening assault.

Perevisyshche was the name of the area between the present Maidan Nezalezhnosti and the Yevropeiska Ploshcha during the prince's epoch. In this area, the hunting with stretching of “perevisy” (snares) usually took place.

In the preparation and implementation of the huge “special operation” against 20-25 thousand of protesters on the Maidan such forces were involved:

• units of the internal troops of the Ministry of Interior of Ukraine;
• “berkut” from the most regions of Ukraine;
• the majority of assault special units of the Security Service of Ukraine and the Ministry of Interior of Ukraine (including “Alpha”, “Omega”, the company for special purposes of PDSP “Berkut” – “Sadovnik's special company” and others);
• three armoured personnel carriers;
• at least three water cannons and other vehicles of security forces;
• Criminal Operatives Department;
• Administration in Fight with the Organized Crime;
• Administration of State Security;
• State Traffic Inspection;
• objects and services of municipal property;
• Kyiv Metro;
• Ukrainian State Centre of Radio Frequencies;
• hundreds of “titushkas”.

According to the status quo at 19:30, the correlation of the protesters killed during the whole time of protest actions and law-enforcers was 15 to 3 (at first 15 Maidan activists, and later 3 law-enforcers). Two law enforcement officers died in the direction of the attack from the side of Khreshchatyk at 16:13-16:19 and one more – at 19:12:22 in the area above the Flower Clock. There is no evidence of the involvement of the protesters in these deaths (check the episode “Clutches”).

At 16:00, the common ultimatum of the SSU and Ministry of Interior of Ukraine about the cessation of protest actions until 18:00 was announced, and the deaths of three law enforcement officers were very appropriate in order to start an “antiterrorist operation” for mopping-up of Euromaidan. At 16:00 metro in Kyiv was stopped.

From 17:06:26 to 18:51:07 (1 hour 44.5 minutes, video cells 3\1, 3\2) in the premises of the former bank “Khreshchatyk” (municipal property), which was located in 80 meters from the line of confrontation, in the rear of security forces, “temporary headquarters” in preparation for the assault were set up. The people that were there are still to be established.

Starting at 17:30, law-enforcers at first by themselves, and later with the help of communal services, begin to clear the way on Khreshchatyk (then also on Hrushevsky Street), as it turns out later, for the free pass of APCs, which will ram the barricade with the protesters on it.

At 17:50, under the bridge (“Lviv Brama”), Major General Plakhuta I. V. gives a comment to the journalist that there will be no assault and that “radicals” are to blame for the events of the afternoon on February 18 (check video cell 1\2).

At 18:00, the assault did not begin, as it was announced.

At 18:00:58 the first APC appeared at the colonnade of the “Dynamo” stadium (check video cell 1\2), later at 18:06:57 it set off from the barricade on the Hrushevsky Street to his assault position on Khreshchatyk Street.

At 18:17:13 a motorcade with special squad soldiers (three cars and three minibuses, check video cell 4\1) passed the intersection of Kotelna Street and Trokhsviatytelska Street. The ambulance was wedged into the motorcade, so the minibuses slowed down for a short time. In order to skip waiting, the special squad soldiers left the transport (18:17:52) and ran to the Ukrainian House on Yevropeiska Ploshcha, where they, armoured with assault rifles, began searching for “terrorists” (the mopping-up of Yevropeiska Ploshcha took place at 16:12). After 2.5 minutes (18:20:06-18:20:48), the minibuses, which they were driving, also arrived on Yevropeiska Ploshcha (check video cells 2\2).

At 18:28:13 in his speech on the stage, Kniazhytskyi M. L. says:

“I want to tell you one story. I spoke to two police officers today. One of them is a lieutenant from Lviv, the other one is from Donetsk. At this time, close to us we tried to take the ambulance through in order to take the people from Maidan from here to the hospital. Then the police officers came, by the way also with gunshot wounds. What did one of these colonels said to me, he told me in Russian: «You know, we thought it was yours. We caught those several people who shot from the MP [Makarov pistol]. These were police warrant officers. We seized the certificate from them and gave the documents to our counter-intelligence»”.

From 18:30 to 18:32, relocating from the Mariinskyi Park closer to the place of the future assault, the large group of “titushkas” passes by. At 18:30, it passes through the gap in the barricade on Hrushevsky Street (check video cell 1\2); at 18:31:46, it goes onto Yevropeiska Ploshcha (check video cell 3\3). At 18:32:18, it passes by the hotel “Dnipro” (check video cell 1\1). Later some such groups found themselves at the intersection of Velyka Zhytomyrska Street and Volodymyrska Street, where Vasiltsov V.V. and Veremii V.V. were killed .

From 18:36:22 to 18:39:00 from Trokhsviatytelska Street another motorcade with special squad soldiers comes (check video cell 2\2 and video cell 4\2 at 18:37:26), this time it is much larger – 33 auto units (and in them – not less than 200 people), mostly microbuses, a few SUVs [jeeps] and one bus “Bohdan”.

At 18:37:18 in the visibility range of the camera on Hrushevsky Street (check video cell 1\2), the second APC appears (which makes its way from Verkhovna Rada [Supreme Council] to Yevropeiska Ploshcha). It drove through the barricade on Hrushevsky Street at 18:42:02 and went to the assault position on Khreshchatyk at 18:43:00 (check video cell 2\2).

At 18:41 in an interview, one of the soldiers of the internal troops tells about those people whom he sees on the opposite side of the barricade, who, in an hour, will be attacked, that “they are not Ukrainian citizens”, they are “fascist movements”, etc. (check video cell 4\2). Unfortunately, the unit commander broke off the interview.

At 19:06:49 the third APC passed by the NBU (check video cells 4\1, 4\2, 4\3), and occupied the position under the bridge on Institutska Street.

At 19:09:36 and at 19:11:22, the first interruptions in the broadcast of Channel 5 began – the connection between the studio and the mobile television station on Maidan started to break off (check video cell 1\4). At 20:15-20:30 the broadcast of Channel 5 was turned off throughout the country, the cable broadcasting was partially turned off by some cable TV operators, the satellite TV worked with interruptions, the channel website stopped working.

At 19:27, the security forces made their first attempts to remove the dividing net on line of the confrontation (check video cell 1\4) – for the next attack of the APC. It was difficult to do this manually. That is why at 19:41 and at 19:44 the net was broken twice with the help of law-enforcers' truck (check the episode “Boomerang”).

From 19:40-19:45, the posts of the State Traffic Inspection and “titushkas” will occupy the intersection along the Volodymyrska Street in order to prevent possible escape of protesters from Maidan during the assault. The Maidan was trapped without the opportunity to retreat.

The preparation for the assault was finished.