DEFIANT PROTESTERS SHOUTED “Glory to Ukraine” as burning tents lit up the night sky after thousands of riot police moved against the sprawling protest camp in the centre of Kiev today.
The police, armed with stun grenades and water cannons, attacked the camp after at least 13 people — including six officers — died and hundreds were injured in street clashes. The violence was the deadliest in nearly three months of anti-government protests that have paralysed Ukraine’s capital in a struggle over the nation’s identity.
Opposition leader Vitali Klitschko urged the 20,000 protesters to defend the camp on Independence Square.
“We will not go anywhere from here,” Klitschko told the crowd, speaking from a stage in the square as fires burned around him, releasing huge plumes of smoke into the night sky. “This is an island of freedom and we will defend it,” he said. Many heeded his call.
“This looks like a war against one’s own people,” said Dmytro Shulko, 35, who was heading toward the camp armed with a fire bomb. “But we will defend ourselves.”
(Image: Efrem Lukatsky/AP/PA)
As police dismantled some of the barricades on the perimeter of the square and tried to push away the protesters, they fought back with rocks, bats and fire bombs. Many of the protesters were bleeding.
Speaking over loudspeakers, police urged women and children to leave the square because an “anti-terrorist” operation was underway.
(Image: Sergei Chuzavkov/AP/PA)
The protesters appeared to sense that Ukraine’s political stand-off was reaching a critical turning point. As the tents and also some tires went up in flames, defiant protesters shouted “Glory to Ukraine!” and sang the Ukrainian national anthem.
Shortly before midnight, Klitschko headed to President Viktor Yanukovych’s office to try to resolve the crisis, his spokeswoman said.
Earlier in the day, protesters attacked police lines and set fires outside parliament, accusing Yanukovych of once again ignoring their demands and dragging his feet on a constitutional reform to limit presidential powers.
(Image: Efrem Lukatsky/AP/PA)
Tensions had soared after Russia said yesterday that it was ready to resume providing the loans that Yanukovych’s government needs to keep Ukraine’s ailing economy afloat. This raised fears among the opposition that Yanukovych had made a deal with Moscow to stand firm against the protesters and would choose a Russian-leaning loyalist to be his new prime minister.
The protests began in late November after Yanukovych turned away from a long-anticipated deal with the European Union in exchange for a $15 billion bailout from Russia. The political maneuvering continued, however, with both Moscow and the West eager to gain influence over this former Soviet republic.
Until yesterday, the government and the opposition had appeared to be making some progress toward resolving the political crisis peacefully. In exchange for the release of scores of jailed activists, protesters on Sunday vacated a government building that they had occupied since 1 December.
(Image: Efrem Lukatsky/AP/PA)
Russia also may have wanted to see Kiev remain calm through the Winter Olympics in Sochi, so as not to distract from President Vladimir Putin’s games. But after the outburst of violence against riot police, Yanukovych’s government may have felt it had no choice but to try to restore order.
While Kiev and western Ukraine have risen up against Yanukovych, he remains popular in the Russian-speaking eastern and southern regions, where economic and cultural ties with Russia are strong.
(Image: Efrem Lukatsky/AP/PA)
As darkness fell, law enforcement agencies vowed to bring order to the streets and they shut down subway stations in the centre of the capital. In Independence Square, Orthodox priests prayed for peace.
“We see that this regime again has begun shooting people; they want to sink Ukraine in blood. We will not give in to a single provocation,” opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk told the protesters. “We will not take one step back from this square. We have nowhere to retreat to. Ukraine is behind us, Ukraine’s future is behind us.”
(Image: Sergei Chuzavkov/AP/PA)
Today’s clashes were the first to lead to deaths since 22 January, when two protesters were hit with live ammunition and a third fell.
Angry protesters had hurled stones at police and set trucks blocking their way on fire. Riot police retaliated with stun grenades and fired what appeared to be small metal balls, as smoke from burning tires and vehicles billowed over Kiev.
Olha Bilyk, spokeswoman for the Kiev city police, told The Associated Press that six policemen died from gunshot wounds and 159 were wounded, including 39 who were shot. She also said seven civilians died, including three who were shot.
(Image: Efrem Lukatsky/AP/PA)
The coordinator for the opposition’s medical response team, Oleh Musiy, said more than 400 protesters were injured. He also claimed that about 20 had died, but this could not independently be confirmed.
One of the civilians was found dead after protesters stormed the office of the president’s Party of Regions. Police pushed them away, but when firefighters arrived to put out a fire, they discovered the body of an office employee, Kiev’s emergency services said.
Justice Minister Olena Lukash, a close Yanukovych aide, accused the opposition of violating earlier agreements with the government and blamed protest leaders for the violence.
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