KIEV: Flames engulfed the main protest camp in Kiev late Tuesday as police stormed it during the deadliest day of violence in three months of demonstrations, in which at least 11 people were killed and alarm rippled across Europe and beyond.
HunzaNews February 19th, 2014.
Helmeted protesters hurling rocks, fireworks and Molotov cocktails fought back against black-armoured riot squads targeting them with stun grenades and water cannon.
Smoke from burning tyres billowed up into the chill night air, while laser lights, flags and the glare of several fires from tents sent alight flickered over the riled-up crowd.
Kiev was in essential lockdown as authorities halted the city´s metro system and said they would limit road traffic coming into the capital from midnight (2200 GMT).
The apocalyptic scene in the capital´s Independence Square was broadcast live globally by TV news crews.
Police said six officers died from gunshot wounds, while authorities and demonstrators said five civilians were also killed in the clashes, bringing the death toll to at least 11.
Another two other civilians were found dead, but their bodies showed no exterior signs of violence, making it unclear if they died from the violence.
More than 150 people were injured, including dozens of police officers, some with serious wounds.
It was the bloodiest day since protests started against President Viktor Yanukovych in November, when he infuriated a large part of the population by ditching a pact promising closer ties with the EU in favour of staying in Russia´s orbit.
The European Union, United States and United Nations were among the international voices calling for calm after Tuesday´s conflagration.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she was “deeply worried about the grave new escalation”.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon called for restraint and dialogue, while NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen urged “all parties to refrain from violence and to urgently resume dialogue, including through the parliamentary process”.
Protesters defiant –
Police had warned women and children through loudspeakers to leave the square in Kieve area as they began their assault, which they described as “an anti-terrorist” operation.
But some 25,000 people, many of them wearing makeshift body protection and wielding bars and bats, remained to defy the riot squads.
Exhorting the crowd from a stage in the square where protest leaders continued to speak as the assault was continuing, opposition leader Vitali Klitschko declared the protesters “are not going anywhere”.
“This a small island of freedom,” the former boxing champion said. “The state has launched a war against its own people.
Responsible democratic countries cannot stand back and let this happen.”Afterwards, Klitschko went to Yanukovych´s residence for a meeting, his spokeswoman said.
Meanwhile, around 500 protesters seized control of a regional administrative building and the police headquarters in the pro-EU western city of Lviv.
thenews
