People living in tents on Independence Square (Maidan) in the center of Kyiv are hampering efforts to extinguish a fire burning at nearby barricades.

An Interfax-Ukraine correspondent has reported that firefighters have managed to put out a blaze engulfing barricades and car tires near the Trade Unions House. However, tires are still burning on Instytutska Street.

Soldiers of the Kyiv 1 battalion are pushing the activists away from the burning barricades outside of the Trade Unions House.

Barricades near the Khreschatyk subway station have been set on fire as well, Interfax-Ukraine reports. The metro station, however, remains open for entry and exit.

City services are attempting to remove barricades that block the traffic lanes of Khreschatyk Street.

According to earlier reports, people living in tents on Independence Square offered resistance to Kyiv-1 battalion soldiers who have arrived at the site.

The Kyiv police department has reported that on Thursday morning the city's services started to remove the barricades from the Maidan. However, some tents were set ablaze on the square.

"Policemen managed to restore order and allowed the utilities services to continue their efforts. However, another tent caught fire, and firefighters are now working to extinguish the blaze," a city police spokesman told Interfax.

Sources in law enforcement agencies have not ruled out that tent camp tenants could have set their tents on fire on their own in order to hamper the city services' work.