Clashes kills over 50 in Ukraine
22 Feb 2014 4:38 AM IST
A photographer saw the bodies of 21 dead civilians in Independence Square, a few hundred metres (yards) from where the president met the EU delegation, after protesters who have occupied the area for almost three months hurled petrol bombs and paving stones to drive riot police out of the plaza.
The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland were to report back in Brussels later in the day to EU colleagues, who will decide on possible targeted sanctions against those deemed responsible for the bloodshed. Russia criticised the European and US measures, saying they would only make matters worse.
A Ukrainian presidential statement said dozens of police were killed or wounded during the opposition offensive hours after Yanukovich and opposition leaders had agreed on a truce.
Witnesses said they saw snipers firing during the clashes. The Health Ministry said two police were among Thursday’s dead.
That raised the total death toll since Tuesday to at least 51, including at least 12 police - by far the bloodiest hours of Ukraine’s 22-year post-Soviet history. Local media said more than 30 protesters were killed in Thursday’s flare-up.
The country is the object of a geopolitical tug-of-war between Moscow, which sees it as the historical cradle of Russian civilisation, and the West, which says Ukrainians should be free to choose economic rapprochement with the EU. The renewed fighting, which subsided after about an hour, heightened concern voiced by neighbouring Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk that Ukraine could descend into civil war or split between the pro-European West and Russian-speaking east.
The EU ministers’ meeting with Yanukovich was delayed for security reasons but began an hour late. They expected to present him with a mixture of sanctions and enticements to make a deal with his opponents that could end the bloodshed.
A statement from Yanukovich’s office said: ‘They (the protesters) are working in organised groups. They are using firearms, including sniper rifles. They are shooting to kill.
‘The number of dead and injured among police officers is dozens,’ the statement on the presidential website said.
Opposition leader Vitaly Klitschko said on Sky TV: ‘As we can see the truce has broken.’ Television showed activists in combat fatigues leading several captured, uniformed policemen across the square.
POLICE OFFICERS CAPTURED
Activists who recaptured the square, known as Maidan or ‘Euro-Maidan’ to the opposition, appeared to lead away several uniformed officers.
Dozens of wounded protesters were being given makeshift first aid treatment in the lobby of the Ukraine Hotel, where many foreign correspondents are staying.
Reporters said there were bullet holes in the walls and windows of the hotel overlooking the square. Both sides have accused the other of using live ammunition.
‘Black smoke, denotations and gunfire around presidential palace... Officials panicky,’ tweeted Polish minister Radoslaw Sikorski to explain the delay in the meeting at Yanukovich’s office, a few hundred metres from the square.
Pro-EU activists have been keeping vigil there since the president turned his back on a trade pact with the bloc in November and accepted financial aid from Moscow. Russia, which has been holding back a new loan instalment until it sees stability in Kiev, has condemned EU and US support of the opposition demands that Yanukovich, elected in 2010, should share power and hold new elections.
The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland were to report back in Brussels later in the day to EU colleagues, who will decide on possible targeted sanctions against those deemed responsible for the bloodshed. Russia criticised the European and US measures, saying they would only make matters worse.
A Ukrainian presidential statement said dozens of police were killed or wounded during the opposition offensive hours after Yanukovich and opposition leaders had agreed on a truce.
Witnesses said they saw snipers firing during the clashes. The Health Ministry said two police were among Thursday’s dead.
That raised the total death toll since Tuesday to at least 51, including at least 12 police - by far the bloodiest hours of Ukraine’s 22-year post-Soviet history. Local media said more than 30 protesters were killed in Thursday’s flare-up.
The country is the object of a geopolitical tug-of-war between Moscow, which sees it as the historical cradle of Russian civilisation, and the West, which says Ukrainians should be free to choose economic rapprochement with the EU. The renewed fighting, which subsided after about an hour, heightened concern voiced by neighbouring Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk that Ukraine could descend into civil war or split between the pro-European West and Russian-speaking east.
The EU ministers’ meeting with Yanukovich was delayed for security reasons but began an hour late. They expected to present him with a mixture of sanctions and enticements to make a deal with his opponents that could end the bloodshed.
A statement from Yanukovich’s office said: ‘They (the protesters) are working in organised groups. They are using firearms, including sniper rifles. They are shooting to kill.
‘The number of dead and injured among police officers is dozens,’ the statement on the presidential website said.
Opposition leader Vitaly Klitschko said on Sky TV: ‘As we can see the truce has broken.’ Television showed activists in combat fatigues leading several captured, uniformed policemen across the square.
POLICE OFFICERS CAPTURED
Activists who recaptured the square, known as Maidan or ‘Euro-Maidan’ to the opposition, appeared to lead away several uniformed officers.
Dozens of wounded protesters were being given makeshift first aid treatment in the lobby of the Ukraine Hotel, where many foreign correspondents are staying.
Reporters said there were bullet holes in the walls and windows of the hotel overlooking the square. Both sides have accused the other of using live ammunition.
‘Black smoke, denotations and gunfire around presidential palace... Officials panicky,’ tweeted Polish minister Radoslaw Sikorski to explain the delay in the meeting at Yanukovich’s office, a few hundred metres from the square.
Pro-EU activists have been keeping vigil there since the president turned his back on a trade pact with the bloc in November and accepted financial aid from Moscow. Russia, which has been holding back a new loan instalment until it sees stability in Kiev, has condemned EU and US support of the opposition demands that Yanukovich, elected in 2010, should share power and hold new elections.
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