http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/02/19/protesters-clash-with-police-in-ukraine-capital-as-opposition/ At least 25 killed, hundreds injured as protesters clash with police in Ukraine Published February 19, 2014 FoxNews.com
Ukranian riot police clashed with protesters occupying a square in central Kiev Wednesday morning, following hours of street battles that left at least 25 people dead and hundreds injured, as the United States and other Western governments called for an end to the violence.
Police armed with water cannons were gaining ground in Independence Square, but protestors managed to find protection behind a burning barricade of tires and wood and hurled Molotov cocktails at security forces trying to put out the flames, Reuters reports.
At least 25 people, including several police officers and protesters, were reported dead in the violence by Wednesday morning, and 241 were injured, according to The Associated Press.
The protests began in late November after Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych froze economical ties with the European Union in exchange for a $15 billion bailout from Russia, but the political maneuvering continued and Moscow later suspended its payments. Both Moscow and the West have been eager to gain influence over this former Soviet republic.
The Kremlin said it put the latest disbursement of its bailout on hold amid uncertainty over Ukraine's future and what it described as a "coup attempt"; it criticized the West for the escalation of violence.
The recent wave of street violence began Tuesday when protesters attacked police lines and set fires outside parliament, accusing Yanukovych of ignoring their demands to enact constitutional reforms that would limit the president's power — a key opposition demand. Parliament, dominated by his supporters, was stalling on taking up a constitutional reform to do so.
On Wednesday morning, the center of Kiev was cordoned off by police, the subway was shut down and most shops on Kiev's main street were closed. But hundreds of Ukrainians still flocked to the opposition camp, some wearing balaclavas and armed with bats, others, in every-day clothes and with make-up on, carrying food to protesters.
A group of young men and women poured petrol into plastic bottles, preparing fire bombs, while a volunteer walked past them distributing ham sandwiches to protesters from a tray. Another group of activists was busy crushing the pavement into pieces and into bags to fortify barricades.
"The revolution turned into a war with the authorities," said Vasyl Oleksenko, 57, a retired geologist from central Ukraine, who said he fled the night's violence fearing for his life, but returned to the square in the morning, feeling ashamed. "We must fight this bloody, criminal leadership; we must fight for our country, our Ukraine."
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt echoed a similar sentiment, putting the blame on Yanukovych for the violence.
"Today, President Yanukovich has blood on his hands," he said.
Ukraine’s Health Ministry said some of the people who died in the clashes Wednesday suffered gunshot wounds, and Kiev hospitals were struggling to treat hundreds of injured. It was the deadliest day yet in the ongoing protests.
Activists also set-up a makeshift medical unit inside an landmark Orthodox Church not far from the camp, where volunteer medics were taking care of the wounded.
Opposition leader Vitali Klitschko has urged the protesters to defend the camp.
"We will not go anywhere from here," Klitschko told a crowd overnight, 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.
The government imposed restrictions for transport moving toward Kiev, apparently to prevent more opposition activists from coming from Western part of the country, and at least one train from Lviv was held outside Kiev. Several highways toward into Kiev were also blocked by police.
Acting Defense Minister Pavlo Lebedev told the ITAR-Tass news agency that he has dispatched a paratrooper brigade to Kiev to help protect arsenals. He refused to say if the unit could be used against protesters, the agency said.
In Washington, Vice President Joe Biden phoned Yanukovych Tuesday and urged him to pull back forces and address the protesters' "legitimate grievances." A State Department spokesman said Secretary of State John Kerry shared Biden's "grave concerns," adding, "Ukraine's deep divisions will not be healed by spilling more innocent blood."
The State Department also issued a travel alert for U.S, citizens in Ukraine late Tuesday, saying, "The situation in Ukraine is unpredictable and could change quickly. Further violent clashes between police and protesters in (Kiev) and other cities are possible."
Shortly before midnight, Klitschko headed to Yanukovych's office to try to resolve the crisis. But he returned to the square early Wednesday without reaching any agreement on ending the violence. Klitschko told reporters that he had asked the president to stop the police action to clear the square and prevent further deaths, but Yanukovych's only proposal was that the demonstrators have to go home and stop the protests.
"I am very unhappy because there was no discussion," Klitschko said. "They don't want to listen."
Still, Klitschko urged the protesters and police to stop the escalation of violence. He said opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk was trying to arrange for more negotiations with Yanukovych later Wednesday.
In a statement published online early Wednesday, Yanukovych said that he had already made several attempts to compromise, but that opposition leaders "crossed a line when they called people to arms."
Yanukovych said opposition leaders had to "draw a boundary between themselves and radical forces," or else "acknowledge that they are supporting radicals. Then the conversation ... will already be of a different kind."
Meanwhile, the European Union has called for an extraordinary meeting of foreign ministers to decide the 28-nation bloc's reaction including possible sanctions to the recent escalation of violence.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Wednesday he expects the EU to adopt "targeted measures against those responsible for violence and use of excessive force."
Such sanctions could include travel bans targeting Ukraine’s leadership and the freezing of its assets.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton's office said the special meeting of foreign ministers will gather to weigh the bloc's options Thursday in Brussels.
U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey R. Payatt called for dialogue, but also threatened both sides with sanctions.
"We believe Ukraine's crisis can still be solved via dialogue, but those on both sides who fuel violence will open themselves to sanctions," Payatt said on Twitter.
Meanwhile, in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, where most residents yearn for stronger ties with the EU and have little sympathy for Yanukovych, protesters seized several government buildings Tuesday, including the governor's office, police stations, prosecutors and security agency offices and the tax agency headquarters. They also broke into an Interior Ministry unit and set it on fire. The building was still smoldering Wednesday morning and some protesters were driving around town in police cars they had seized during the night.
Tensions soared after Russia said Monday 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.
President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies that Putin had a phone conversation with Yanukovych overnight. Peskov said that Putin hasn't given Yanukovych any advice how to settle the crisis, adding that it's up to the Ukrainian government.
Click for more from Reuters.The Associated Press contributed to this report.
