Ukraine protests: Bloodshed on Europe's doorstep as EU tries and fails to stop killing
Blood and black ash smeared the once-pristine floors of Kiev’s Hotel Ukraine. Dining tables, hastily shoved together, became makeshift hospital beds for the injured; the cold ground was a crude morgue. A priest knelt next to one man, offering what small comfort he could.
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Blood and black ash smeared the once-pristine floors of Kiev’s Hotel Ukraine. Dining tables, hastily shoved together, became makeshift hospital beds for the injured; the cold ground was a crude morgue. A priest knelt next to one man, offering what small comfort he could.
Ukrainian protesters poured on to a central Kiev square on Wednesday, preparing to confront police anew after the bloodiest day since the former Soviet republic, caught in a geopolitical struggle between Russia and the West, won its independence.
- 20,000 protesters on Kiev's Independence Square fought with police using petrol bombs, fireworks and stones
- At least 150 demonstrators were injured and it was claimed that 13 police officers suffered gunshot wounds
- Officers used tear gas and stun grenades during the confrontation with protesters, according to reports
- Independence Square resembled a battle zone with black smoke and flames belching from a trade union building
- President Viktor Yanukovych blames opposition for increase in violence and urges its leaders to 'stop the conflict'
- Disturbance erupted as opposition accused government of stalling reform that would decrease president's powers
- Yanukovich claims that he had refrained from violence since unrest began - but warned that he could 'deploy force'
- Troops sent to Kiev to guard arms depots, according to acting Ukraine Defence Minister Pavlo Lebedyev
Daily Mail
