Kiev mayor resigns from ruling party; reopens the subway.

[pampango]

The capital’s mayor quit Yanukovych’s party and reopened the subway, while ruling-party deputies urged parliament to convene.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-19/ukraine-leader-declares-truce-after-boosting-army-powers.html

The mayor of Kiev quit the country’s ruling Party of Regions on Thursday amid the deadly unrest in the Ukrainian capital.

“I’ve made the decision to leave the Party of Regions and take personal responsibility for ensuring that daily city life keeps going in Kiev … In difficult times like this, I carry the enormous responsibility for every resident of Kiev,” Volodymyr Makeyenko said in a video address posted on City Hall’s website.

“As head of the city administration, I am overseeing the burial of dozens of bodies of ordinary people every day,” he said. “My main aim is to save the lives of Ukrainians. I will be the chair of the Kiev city administration as long as the people of Ukraine trust me,” he said.

http://en.ria.ru/world/20140220/187724983/Kiev-Mayor-Quits-Ruling-Party-Amid-Deadly-Clashes.html

I've read elsewhere that the national government wanted the subway shut down to make it more difficult for people to reach Independence Square.