The Ukrainian capital has been gripped by weeks of anti-government protests which have seen violent clashes between rioters and police. Unrest is also spreading beyond Kiev as the opposition and government struggle to end the crisis.
15 April 2014
The police HQ in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk has been cleared of anti-government protesters, said Ukrainian police.
Meanwhile, protesters are still blocking the city airport, the police added.
On Saturday, pro-federalization protesters occupied police headquarters in the town of Kramatorsk. Around 50 armed protesters entered the building and several warning shots were fired.
05 April 2014
Russia will protect its agriculture business from unfair Ukrainian competition under the WTO mechanism, if such a threat arises after a potential Ukrainian withdrawal from the CIS, or the country signing the economic part of the EU association agreement. The warning comes from Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who was addressing a conference of rural communities.
At the moment Russia and Ukraine have a number of agreements on trade preferences and cooperation. Russia has for months warned that it would have to respond to Ukraine’s entering a free trade agreement with the EU by curtailing protection of domestic producers, which was one of the reasons why President Yanukovich refused to sign it last year.
After Yanukovich was ousted in an armed coup, the new authorities pushed through the European integration agenda, although so far only the political part of the agreement has been signed.
29 March 2014
Dmitry Yarosh, the leader of neo-fascist party Right Sector has submitted all of the required documents to the Central Election Commission (CEC) to run for president in May 25 elections, Inter-fax reports, saying that he will run on an independent platform.
So far 5 out of 19 candidates that have expressed their will to run for president have been registered by CEC.
Fearing the consequences for their businesses, a number of top German executives criticized their government and the general Western approach in threatening Russia with increased sanctions over Moscow's position over Ukraine.
Steelmaker ThyssenKrupp's Chief Executive Heinrich Hiesinger told daily newspaper Die Welt that the West should focus on cooperation, not alienation of Russia.
"Now we have a situation in which Russia feels that its back is against the wall," Reuters quotes. The bilateral trade between the two countries reached 76.5 billion euros last year, but the threat of sanctions, many analysts predict will reduce that volume.
"Many German companies that invested in Russia last year or wanted to build production sites there have now given up their plans or put them on ice," Bernd Hones, Economic Correspondent at economic development agency Germany Trade & Invest in Moscow, told weekly paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.
More 300,000 German jobs are dependent on Russian business ties. Germany also receives around 35 percent of its gas from Moscow.
21 March 2014
Fireworks #Simferopol - great celebrations #Crimea joins #Russiapic.twitter.com/UIVZWYn30e
— PaulaSlier_RT (@PaulaSlier_RT) March 21, 2014
17 March 2014
Over 500 Ukrainian servicemen have left their military installations in the city of Sevastopol and registered at the temporary personnel registration point organized by the city authorities, city government chief Aleksey Chaly said. More Ukrainian servicemen are expected to register within the nearest days, he said.
Chaly said that the city of Sevastopol will carry out its obligations to the Ukrainian military, including paying their salaries, for the next three months.
The Crimea parliament on Monday ruled that all Ukrainian military units in the region will be disbanded, Interfax reported.
Following the Crimea referendum, the Sevastopol city council issued a resolution on entering Russia as a federal city and authorized Chaly to sign an affiliation treaty with Russia.
24 February 2014
Ukraine’s parliament voted to allocate approximately 1.96 billion hryvinas (approximately 218 million dollars) from the state budget to hold early presidential elections, slated to be held on May 25. The measure received 352 affirmative votes out, far surpassing the 226 required for it to pass. The chairman of the parliamentary budget committee Eugene Heller said the money would be reallocated to the election from other government programs.
The Ukrainian parliament has voted to oust judges from the country’s constitutional court for violating their oath of office by allowing for the constitution to be amended in 2010. The upper house of the Ukrainian parliament voted overwhelmingly in support of the measure. In September 2010, Ukraine's constitutional court increased the powers of recently ousted President Viktor Yanukovych by reversing a reform introduced in 2004, which limited presidential powers in favor of parliament. The court said the move had been unconstitutional, effectively returning the country to its previous status as a presidential republic. Deputies, however, believe the constitutional court violated its oath of office in doing so.
08 February 2014
Several hundred armed and masked protesters have gathered at the building of the Kiev city administration, some of them heading to Bessarabskay Square, Itar-tass reported.
Earlier on Saturday, Kiev residents gathered near Lvov square in order to clean up the streets. Their actions were seen by the protesters as an attempt to dismantle the barricades on Independence Square. Several ambulances and police patrols were reported to be stationed in the area.
04 February 2014
Ukrainian parliament did not agree on limiting presidential powers during Tuesday’s debate. Anti-government protesters are calling for curbing the president’s powers through constitutional amendments.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton arrived in Ukraine on Tuesday. She had dinner with opposition leaders in the evening and plans to meet with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich on Wednesday.
Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovich is ready for early presidential elections if talks with the opposition yield no results, the president's representative in the Verkhovna Rada (parliament), Yury Miroshnichenko, told ICTV channel. "The president said that ‘if we the politicians are not be able to find a solution …. then the only democratic way to resolve this situation is early elections,’” Miroshnichenko said. There is no forceful action being considered to end the crisis, nor is declaring a state of emergency being considered, he added.
03 February 2014
Activists in Kiev installed a toilet painted in gold on a pedestal previously holding Lenin's statue in Kiev's Bessarabskaya Square on Monday.
Activists of the centre-right Batkivshchyna party and people from various student groups behind the move say the gesture is a call to stop "the corrupt and criminalized regime of President Viktor Yanukovich," who protesters claim owns a similar toilet made with real gold.
The statue of Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin was toppled by masked anti-government protesters, who pulled it down with steel chains last December, and smashed the granite figure with sledgehammers.
02 February 2014
The Ukrainian opposition is ready to form a new government and to take full responsibility for the situation in the country, leader of the Batkivshchina (Fatherland) opposition party Arseny Yatsenyuk told local broadcaster “Channel 5.” However Yatsenyuk ruled out the possibility of creating the new cabinet together with the pro-government Party of Regions. The opposition leader stressed that the primary reforms of the new government will include the demonopolization of economy, energy, tax, bank, legal and law enforcement reforms. He added that Ukraine would require loans from the IMF, the EU and the US to help finance the new government.
A suspected arsonist who was allegedly paid for setting vehicles on fire in Kiev has been detained by police. The suspect, a Georgian citizen, was apprehended last night as he was attempting to commit “an unlawful act,” Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said on its website. It posted a video of the man’s interrogation.
The detainee, 26, told the police that he came to Ukraine to work. But after failing to find a job, he went to Maidan where he met some “young people,” who offered to pay him 600 grivnas ($70) for setting fire to cars. Then, he said, they went to the Trade Unions Building, home to the National Resistance Headquarters, to procure money, fuel and a list of vehicles to be burned.
The opposition has previously claimed that cars belonging to protesters were being set on fire, recalled Itar-Tass.
Ukrainian opposition leaders held talks with EU policymakers at the Munich Security Conference on various topics, including reforms in Ukraine, investigation of the crimes committed during riots in the country, EU integration and visa-free travel, Ukrainian opposition leader Pyotr Poroshenko told reporters Sunday. One of the main issues discussed was a proposal to return to the country’s 2004 constitution, “which is the basic condition for resolving the crisis, " he said. The conference was attended by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule, EU foreign ministers and others.
The law granting amnesty to the participants of the mass protests in Ukraine came into force. The government and the opposition have agreed that the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovnaya Rada, would announce an amnesty if administration buildings and roads were unblocked by the rioters. The protesters have 15 days to meet the demands. The amnesty does not affect those who committed major offences such as murder or kidnapping.
Ukraine’s Interior Ministry says that some parliamentarians and medical staff are obstructing the investigation of the alleged kidnapping and torture of opposition activist Dmitry Bulatov.
According to the chief of the Investigation Department Nikolay Chinchina, the investigative team consisting of 20 officers has not been allowed to question Bulatov, who is currently hospitalized, despite the fact that his condition not only allows him to testify but also give interviews to the media.
“Repeated attempts by investigators to communicate with the victim were prevented by either members of parliament or the doctors,” Chinchina said. “Such actions may indicate a desire to prolong the investigation or lack of interest in ascertaining the truth.”
01 February 2014
To settle Ukraine's political crisis, the country needs mediation from high-level international representatives who will be guarantors of agreements with the Ukrainian authorities, said opposition UDAR (Strike) party leader Vitaly Klitschko during a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the sidelines of the 50th Munich Security Conference.
During the conference, Klitschko also met European Parliament President Martin Schulz and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The opposition leader is also expected to meet with US Secretary of State John Kerry and Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland.
At an earlier meeting with the UN chief, the head of the Batkivshchina (Fatherland) party Arseny Yatsenyuk said there was no need to send a UN special envoy for mediation between the authorities and the opposition.
“Theoretically a UN or OSCE mission in Ukraine will be possible when the situation reaches the deadlock,” said Yatsenyuk.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and the leaders of the Ukrainian opposition have discussed the situation in Ukraine during a meeting at the Munich Security Conference.
They [Kerry and opposition leaders] have "reached an agreement on concrete further moves" and “not just on expressions of solidarity with the Ukrainian people," said Ukrainian opposition lawmaker Petr Poroshenko.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) are investigating allegations of an attempted coup d’etat after police checked computer servers belonging to the opposition party Batkivshchina (Fatherland), says SBU head Maksim Lenko.
This statement comes after the Ukrainian Interior Ministry announced that protests in Ukraine were planned and organizers considered the use of force.
Amnesty International has urged Ukrainian authorities to immediately open an investigation into the abduction and torture of Ukrainian protester Dmitry Bulatov. The human rights NGO slammed the beating up of the anti-government activist as a “barbaric act” and called to bring to justice those who have committed it. Bulatov claimed he was abducted, tortured and had part of his ear cut off by men with Russian accents, before he was dumped in the countryside outside Kiev on Thursday.
#UNSG met #Ukraine opposition this morning & @MFA_Ukraine yesterday, called for restraint. pic.twitter.com/mKsDDA9wJm
— UN Spokesperson (@UN_Spokesperson) February 1, 2014
A man suspected of being a pro-government activist have been badly beaten and harassed in opposition-controlled territory in Kiev, a local newspaper reports, providing photos as proof. Lidia Denisenko from the Yezhednevnik 2000 and her cameraman Vyacheslav Berloga were at the scene on Monday evening reporting on the protests, when they witnessed the ugly spectacle.
The man, his clothes ripped and his face covered in blood, was dragged along the street by two masked men, apparently members of the so-called Maidan self-defense force. He was later surrounded by more activists, who made him kneel and pray for his life. The scene was witnessed by dozens of indifferent people, the report says.
Neither the name of the man in the photos nor his eventual fate is known.
In the confrontation, dozens of so-called titushki, people accused by the opposition of stirring violence, participating in provocations and otherwise doing the bidding of the government for money, have been subjected to harassment by the opposition forces.
Photos and footage of such incidents showed them standing “trials” and being forced to confess their alleged crimes. In some cases opposition activists wrote the word “slave” on their victims’ foreheads as punishment.
There were also unconfirmed reports from some members of the opposition, that a “torture dungeon” was operated by some radical activists in a government building seized by the opposition.
Activists from the ruling Party of Regions have announced creation of the “Ukrainsky Front” (Ukrainian Front). The front will “clear out occupiers from Ukrainian soil,” Vladimir Ryuzhkov, the initiator of the project, told journalists in the northeastern city of Kharkov. The idea is an echo of the 1st Ukrainian Front of the Soviet Red Army during World War II.
A plainclothes police officer has been beaten by protesters in the Kiev city administration offices, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said.
“The protesters also took the officer’s ID and his personal belongings,” the ministry said in a statement.
The officer has been diagnosed with concussion, the ministry said.
A car of a Canadian embassy employee has been torched in overnight violence in Kiev, local media report.
The Ukrainian city is experiencing a series of nighttime car burnings in the last few days, with some reports alleging that the perpetrators are targeting cars with plate numbers issued in anti-government leaning Western Ukraine.
Earlier Canada sanctioned some Ukrainian officials, by banning them from entering the country in response to what Canada called a suppression of the right to protest.
Two masked men raided a boiler station in the city of Lvov and disabled heating for local administration buildings. The sabotage occurred amid a cold snap in the country, which sent temperatures in Lvov falling to -15 degrees Celsius.
It comes a day after opposition activists from the Svoboda nationalist party took control of the buildings by ousting the opposition group Common Cause, which had been holding their building since January 23.
Ukraine’s interior ministry has launched a criminal investigation into the abduction of an anti-government activist, Dmitry Bulatov, who had been missing for over a week but turned up alive on Thursday, says deputy chief of Investigation Department of Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Oleg Tatars. A “possible staging” of an abduction is believed to be one of the probable versions of the events.
“The investigation is working in several directions, including a criminal offense against the named individual [Bulatov]. Lucrative motives are also being investigated along with other possible reasons for his kidnapping. Another version is a possible staging of abduction with intent to commit provocation to trigger a massive public outcry,” said Tatars.
31 January 2014
Two men have been arrested on suspicion of an attempted attack on one of the Ukrainian electric power plants in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnepropetrovsk, reports Ukrainian Security Service.
“Two trotyl blocks, 2 grenades, WWII-era ammunition and computer equipment have been found during the search,” said Vladimir Voropay, the head of the Ukrainian Security Service in Dnepropetrovsk during a press conference.
Opposition leader Arseny Yatsenyuk, of the Batkivshchina (Fatherland) party, has met with Germany's president, Joachim Gauck, during the Munich Security Conference, German media reports. The crisis in Ukraine was one of the items on the agenda of the conference.
It is still not clear whether Vitaly Klitschko from the Udar (Strike) party will also meet with the German president.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara met with his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, to discuss the situation in Ukraine.
Stones, catapult, Molotov cocktails… and a Potato Cannon
Anti-government rioters in Kiev have used many ways to fight with the police officers. They have set up an improvised catapult, thrown Molotov cocktails, thrown stones and firecrackers at police cordons. But now it’s time to use potatoes.
Protesters have shown RT’s Ruptly video agency how their latest improvised potato cannon works.
“They [police officers] have rubber bullets, and we have potatoes,” a protester told the agency.
“It’s not only potatoes we are going to use against police,” he said, firing the first, almost successful potato shot.
The Ukrainian army is not helping police secure Independence Square in Kiev, acting Deputy Chief of the Armed Forces Oleg Lavrov said. Earlier, Ukrainian media reported that Interior Troops had been summoned to help maintain order in the streets of the capital.
The three protesters from Grushevskogo Street who died may have been killed by police officers, Deputy Interior Minister Vitaly Sakal said.
There are several theories about who was responsible, however. “There might have been provocations or murder by unidentified people, said Oleg Tatarov, also of the Interior Ministry.
Earlier the investigation found that the victims were killed by bullets from a hunting rifle.
Watch the report by Paula Slier to get the latest analysis and news.
Protests in Ukraine were planned and organizers considered the use of force, the country’s Interior Ministry has said. The statement comes after police checked computer servers that belonged to the opposition party Batkivshchina (Fatherland).
“The information, which referred to the activity of the opposition Batkivshchina (Fatherland) party and which was on the seized servers, provides evidence that the mass protests that began on November 21 last year in Kiev were not spontaneous, but planned well in advance,” said Aleksandr Gnativ, deputy head of the main investigation department of the Interior Ministry. “Among the materials obtained by investigators, there is evidence that while planning these protests the use of force was considered.”
President Viktor Yanukovich has signed a bill amnestying protesters detained during violent rallies. He has also repealed a series of anti-protest laws that sparked the recent wave of mass protests after they were signed Jan.16.
Radical activists from the Pravy Sektor (Right Sector) umbrella group responsible for the violent confrontation with riot police last week demanded renewed negotiations between the government and the opposition. They also demanded a place at the negotiating table for their representatives.
“If our demands are not met, we reserve the right to unilateral appropriate action,” spokesman for the group Dmitry Yarosh warned.
He added that the radicals are considering leaving the Grushevskogo Street, which they partially control, after an unconditional release of all participants of the protest from police custody.
An amnesty law sponsored by the government offers blanket exculpation to protesters not suspected of major crimes, provided the opposition leaves most of the government buildings they currently control.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said concessions made by Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovich were not sufficient to defuse the ongoing political crisis currently engulfing the country.
"The offers of President Yanukovich have not yet reached a level that would be sufficient regarding the reforms," Reuters cites Kerry as saying, according to a German translation of his remarks.
Kerry, meeting with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin, added that “outside powers” should not get involved in the political crisis, saying it was for the Ukrainian people to resolve.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said concessions made by Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovich were not sufficient to defuse the ongoing political crisis currently engulfing the country.
"The offers of President Yanukovich have not yet reached a level that would be sufficient regarding the reforms," Reuters cites Kerry as saying, according to a German translation of his remarks.
Kerry, meeting with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin, added that “outside powers” should not get involved in the political crisis, saying it was for the Ukrainian people to resolve.
The United Nations Human Rights office is seeking an independent investigation into deaths in Kiev Ukraine, along with other reports of kidnapping and torture, Reuters reports. They have also called on both sides to exercise restraint and create conditions for dialogue and reconciliation.
The UN further implored Ukrainian President Vikor Yanukovich to strike measures curbing freedom of speech, assembly, and the operation of non-governmental organizations which were passed into law on January 16.
"We are appalled by the deaths reported in recent days in Kiev, which should be promptly, thoroughly and independently investigated. We are also calling for an investigation into reports of kidnappings and torture," Rupert Colville, spokesman for UN rights chief Navi Pillay, told a briefing in Geneva.
One of the leading anti-government activists in Ukraine, Dmitry Bulatov, who had been missing for over a week but turned up alive on Thursday, has revealed the details of his abduction. “I was crucified, they cut my ear and face, and I have wounds all over my body. Since they constantly closed my eyes, I couldn't see those who tortured me," Bulatov told reporters, adding that his abductors had Russian accents. Doctors say the activist from AutoMaidan group has no life-threatening injuries. According to Bulatov, he was kept with his eyes shut for eight days before he was eventually dumped in the countryside outside Kiev. The brutally beaten man walked across the village of Vishenki, knocking on all the doors until one of the local residents finally let him in. Bulatov called his friends who brought him back to the capital.
This is how Dmytro #Bulatov looks now. Photo by Olha Koshelenko pic.twitter.com/JupQiSmTRP
— Myroslava Petsa (@myroslavapetsa) January 30, 2014
The US Secretary of State plans to “have his first meeting with the major figures in the Ukrainian opposition" on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, a senior State Department official told AFP before Kerry's plane departed for Germany.
Kerry is also expected to meet Ukraine's Eurovision Song Contest pop star winner Ruslana, who has been active at Maidan Square protests.
"We've been cautiously optimistic that this dialogue between the government and the opposition is beginning to bear fruit," the official said.
"There's the question of whether they can move on to form a government of national unity. So they're coming to Munich in the middle of this negotiating process on what the political compact might look like going forward."
Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland will make a stopover in Ukraine after accompanying Secretary of State John Kerry to Germany on January 31. The exact date of the visit to Ukraine has not been announced as Nuland is also scheduled to visit Greece, Cyprus and the Czech Republic.
“Assistant Secretary Nuland will meet with government officials, opposition leaders, civil society and business leaders to encourage agreement on a new government and plan of action that can put Ukraine back on track toward fulfilling the aspirations of the Ukrainian people for democracy, respect for human rights, European integration and economic growth,” a US State Department press release reads.
30 January 2014
Ukraine will send a delegation to the 50th Munich Security Conference to take part in discussions on security concerns throughout the world. The agenda for the conference has been changed at the last moment to include the security crisis in Ukraine in addition to the Syrian conflict, Iran’s nuclear issue and cyber security.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara, as well as one of the leaders of the opposition, Vitaly Klitschko from the “UDAR” (Punch party), will meet alongside at least 20 heads of states and over 60 foreign ministers from January 31 to February 2.
Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich has been taken to the hospital with a high temperature, said Anna German of the ruling Party of Regions.
Despite the president’s high temperature (39C), Yanukovich still continues working and already held two sessions of Party of Regions, German said.
The opposition Udar (Strike) party said it does not agree that Ukrainian authorities have fulfilled all their obligations to regulate the situation in the country, the party said in a statement.
The statement by President Viktor Yanukovich is an attempt to misinform society, the statement adds.
The anti-government protesters have left the local administration building in western Ukrainian city of Lvov, local media report.
The protesters seized the local administration office on January, 23, demanding the resignation of the city governor Oleg Salo.
The barricades erected by anti-government protesters on Grushevskogo Street won’t be dismantled, says Batkivshchina (Fatherland) MP Andrey Paruby, adding that the opposition is demanding that the country’s authorities free all detained activists without conditions.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso discussed developments in Ukraine with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Barroso said they both welcome “the recent repeal by the Ukrainian Parliament of the so-called anti-protest laws.”
He added: "We expect a political solution of the current stalemate, respecting the rule of law, human rights and the will of the Ukrainian people."
Both Tusk and Barosso are calling upon authorities in Kiev to engage in “dialogue that will lead to open-door to assistance from the EU."
Ukrainian authorities have fulfilled all obligations to regulate the situation in the country but the opposition continues to escalate the situation, Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich has said.
“The parliament has adopted the amnesty bill for all participants of anti-government rallies, but the opposition is still urging people to stand in the cold,” Yanukovich said.
Five protesters from Grushevskogo Street have been put under house arrest, Kiev’s prosecutor’s office says.
Earlier, the protesters were being held in prison, but Kiev’s appeal court has changed the sentence, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
The Ukrainian opposition has prepared legislation to change the country’s constitution, Batkivshchina (Fatherland) deputy Andrey Paruby says.
The proposed constitution will be presented to Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, on February 4. It requires only a simple majority, of 226 votes out of 450, to be adopted, Paruby says.
“We have already prepared the law to liquidate [the] Berkut [special forces],” Paruby adds.
A total of 1,231 activists have received medical assistance, including 681 in Kiev hospitals from November through January, the city’s administration reports.
A total of 234 activists have been detained during the protests in Ukraine, and 140 of them have been held for further investigation, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry says.
Also according to the ministry, 4 people died during the demonstrations, and over 500 have been injured, including 253 police officers.
The Ukrainian Interior Ministry is currently checking whether right wing extremists from the Pravy Sektor (Right Sector) organization have used firearms.
“In [video footage] a man, who calls himself the activist of this organization, speaks about Pravy Sektor’s activity, in particular about the use of the firearms by the activists,” the ministry said in a statement published on its website.
The activist also shows a disassembled gun hidden in a loan of bread. The police believe that this particular weapon might be the one that killed protesters on Grushevskogo Street in Kiev.
Twenty-three cars have been burned overnight in Kiev, the press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine says. Seventeen emergency calls [about the burning cars] were recorded during the night by the Service in the Ukrainian capital.
The police have opened an investigation into the cases.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), in an urgent resolution on Ukraine has threatened to suspend Ukraine's delegation to the rights body “if the grave human rights violations continue, the authorities decide to break up the Maidan protests by force, or if the Verkhovna Rada has not repealed the anti-protests laws package by then.”
The document, titled "The functioning of democratic institutions in Ukraine" was passed by the assembly with 115 in favor, 37 against and 14 abstentions.
In an amendment to the resolution, accepted by the assembly, a monitoring committee says it does not wish to consider the possibility of suspending the voting rights of the Ukrainian delegation at this moment, but “it could consider such sanctions at its part-Session in April if grave Human Rights violations continue or if the Maidan protest were to be broken up by force."
PACE also voted to continue monitoring the situation in Ukraine.
The monitoring committee also says it was “surprised” by the Ukrainian authorities’ decision “to suspend the procedure for the signing of an Association Agreement with the European Union.” The assembly blamed Russia for that.
“The decision not to sign the association agreement was heavily influenced by pressure from the Russian Federation, and especially the threat by Russia to close its borders to goods coming from Ukraine if the association agreement was signed,” the document reads.
Aleksey Pushkov, the chairman of the International Affairs Committee in Russia’s State Duma, slammed PACE’s resolution.
“The resolution of PACE is full of double standards, the EU representatives are trying to strike Russia by distorting the facts, beliefs,” he said on Twitter.
The European Union must make a clear commitment for the future membership of Ukraine, said Polish Foreign Affairs Minister Radoslaw Sikorski.
"The EU made a mistake with not agreeing to give Ukraine EU membership prospects in the Association Agreement, and after the recent events in Kiev, it must mend this mistake," he added.
An interior troop officer has died from cardiac arrest after riots in Kiev, according to the Interior Ministry.
“It is the result of everyday tension in Grushevskogo Street, where 30-year-old Dmitry Donets was serving,” adds the ministry.
Some 20 police officersin the northern Ukrainian town of Chernigov have been injured in clashes with the rioters who were trying to seize the local administration building, says the ministry.
All in all 600 police officers have been injured in November 2013-January 2014.
In total, 600 police officers have been injured in November 2013-January 2014. Three officers died in clashes, according to the Interior Ministry.
The protesters also suffered losses. Over 170 activists have been wounded in mass riots, with four killed.
The injuries were recorded in Bankovaya Street on December 1 (61 officers injured) and in Grushevskogo Street since January 18 (with 81 officers injured).
A monument to Vladimir Lenin has been toppled by unidentified people in the town of Fastov, Kiev Region, reports the Interior Ministry of the region. The 7-ton sculpture was situated in the park next to the local administration building.
This is not the first statue of the Soviet leader to be toppled by rioters. In December anti-government protesters did the same thing with the Lenin monument in Kiev.
President Yanukovich has taken sick leave, his office reported. He has an acute respiratory illness and fever.
The news comes a day after the president took part in an emergency parliamentary session, which adopted a bill on amnesty for opposition protesters.
Interior Ministry troops have lost some 1,000 pieces of protection equipment to Kiev protesters, reports the Ukrainian National News agency citing ministry spokesperson Viktoria Kushnir.
Those include 300 pieces of arms and legs protection gear, 200 shields, 150 ballistic vests and 350 helmets, which have been taken or destroyed by the protesters, she said citing preliminary assessment.
The damage is in addition to an Interior Ministry vehicle torched in the riots.
The US is preparing financial sanctions against Ukrainian officials and protest leaders, which would be imposed if violence escalates in the country, Reuters reports citing congressional aides. The final details of the sanctions are yet to be detailed, but they could be implemented quickly, the sources told the news agency.
The US House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday passed a resolution calling on all parties in the Ukrainian confrontation to refrain from violence and work toward a peaceful resolution.
29 January 2014
In a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged for a "constructive dialogue" to defuse the crisis in Ukraine between the opposition and the government
"The violence must not return. Ukraine needs to have a working government quickly. All parties must accept their responsibility to stabilize the country and protect the rights of citizens," Merkel’s office said in a statement.
"Regarding the situation in Ukraine, it has been stressed that any outside interference is unacceptable," the Kremlin said via a statement following the conversation.
The Ukrainian parliament has voted to adopt a bill providing amnesty for participants of opposition protests in Kiev, on the condition that protesters vacate occupied government and administrative buildings.
So the meeting between Yanukovich and his party is finished, now he's talking with the opposition. Something's coming
— Alexey Yaroshevsky (@Yaro_RT) January 29, 2014
Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich has arrived in the parliament where a vote on the amnesty bill is expected to take place.
EU foreign policy Chief Catherine Ashton has called for an end to the "violence and intimidation" in Ukraine, saying there should be a real dialogue between the authorities and the opposition.
"The violence and intimidation, wherever it comes from, must be stopped," she told reporters in Kiev following a meeting with President Viktor Yanukovych. "The dialogue that has happened from time to time [between the opposition and authorities] needs to be a real dialogue," she added.
Members of the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, have voted to continue the session on amnesty laws today. Some deputies earlier suggested postponing the hearing until Thursday.
Good then. The parliament voted to continue session today
— Alexey Yaroshevsky (@Yaro_RT) January 29, 2014
A Ukrainian court ordered house arrests to 26 people, who had been detained while trying to seize the regional administration of Zaporozhsky region on January 26, local prosecutor’s office reported. Six others have been released on parole. Sixteen more people are yet waiting for a court ruling in police custody.
All the detainees are facing charges for organizing mass riots and attempting to seize government buildings.
At least six people have been injured in clashes between two groups of opposition activists in Kiev, reports Interfax citing eyewitness reports.
The scuffles at the opposition-seized Agriculture Ministry building involved the Common Cause group, who took control of the building last week, and activists of the Euromaidan umbrella organization.
The injuries were caused by rubber bullets fired in the clashes, the report says. The victims have been taken to hospital.
Local media cited police as saying that they did not respond to the situation because it happened in opposition-controlled territory. The media reports said “bullets and grenades were flying” in the ministry, as the opposition groups fought.
Following the confrontation the Common Cause fighters agreed to relinquish the building to fellow opposition activists and move to another opposition-held building.
A policeman sustained a fatal gunshot in a park in eastern Kiev, Interior Ministry reported. The 42-year-old was shot in his chest on Wednesday and succumbed to the wound hours later in a hospital.
Last Friday a police sergeant was killed in Kiev. The 27-year-old was stabbed in his neck not far from a police hostel in Kiev.
A bill submitted to Ukrainian parliament seeks amnesty for all participants of the opposition protest with the exception of those suspected of major crimes. The bill, which is expected to be adopted on Wednesday, has been submitted by the ruling Party of Regions as part of the government concessions to the opposition.
The amnesty, once signed into law, will not come into force until the protesters vacate all governmental buildings and allow barricades to be removed from Kiev and other Ukrainian cities. The opposition will also have to disarm and disband groups of rioters before the amnesty comes into force.
An alternative amnesty bill submitted to the parliament by an independent MP stipulates no provisions for relinquishing the government buildings. It also specifically requires that all information gathered on participants of the protests subject to the amnesty is destroyed.
The damage from protests in Kiev is estimated to be at least US$2.5 million, the city administration reported.
“That’s after a quick survey of the buildings and parks,” Deputy Mayor Anatoly Golubchenko said as he voiced the figure. “We’ve already issued a bill to organizers of the pro-government rallies. But nobody seems to take responsibility for Grushevskogo Street and Independence Square,” he added in reference to the places where most of the rioting and a major opposition protest took place.
The damage included destroyed pavements, fragments of which radical opposition activists hurled at riot police, and buildings burned out in fires started by tires set alight by the protesters.
In his 6th State of the Union address, US President Barack Obama said that USA is using its enormous opportunities to "do good and promote understanding around the globe – to forge greater cooperation, to expand new markets, to free people from fear and want."
“In Ukraine, we stand for the principle that all people have the right to express themselves freely and peacefully, and have a say in their country’s future,” Obama said.
Opposition factions clashed with each other in the western Ukrainian city of Lvov for control over the regional administration building. Activists from the nationalist party Svoboda (Freedom), had scuffles with their allies, who had helped them take over the building back on January 23, local media reported.
The overnight clashes happened shortly after the Svoboda activists announced that they would hand over the administration building to a so-called ‘People’s Rada’, an opposition-led body which aims to replace the regular government in the Ukrainian region. Reports say the activists trying to establish their hold on the building used tear gas against those who refused to leave.
Svoboda later said the scuffles were caused by a misunderstanding in the opposition ranks.
28 January 2014
US Vice President Joe Biden has welcomed the repeal of anti-protest laws in Ukraine and the resignation of PM Nikolay Azarov. He also urged President Viktor Yanukovich to sign the repeal and take further measures to set up a new pro-European government.
“These include an amnesty law and a new government that can bring political unity, win the confidence of the Ukrainian people, and take Ukraine in the direction of Europe by strengthening democratic institutions and making the reforms necessary to achieve economic prosperity,” the White House said.
Tuesday’s call was the third phone conversation between Biden and Yanukovich in less than a week.
Canada’s immigration minister said that Ottawa will bar entry into the country to Ukrainian officials involved in protest crackdowns in Kiev.
"Effective immediately, our government will be restricting the entry to Canada of key officials of the Ukrainian government who are responsible for the oppression of citizens and the opposition as they defiantly and courageously speak out in support of freedom and democracy," Chris Alexander told reporters, without naming any specific individuals.
The move follows Washington’s lead last week, which revoked visas of several Ukrainians linked to violence in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian PM’s resignation and the abolition of the anti-protest laws have not toned down sentiments in the country, said the head of the Ivano-Frankovsk administration, Vasily Skripnichuk as cited by Itar-tass news agency. Administration buildings in the west of Ukraine, where pro-EU sentiments are very strong, are still under siege and barricades are still in place, he added.
The political crisis in the country means that the resignation of the Prime Minister is long overdue, Skripnichuk believes. Nikolay Azarov’s resignation is “only the first step towards a ‘full reset’ of power,” he noted.
MPs in Ivano-Frankovsk are thinking about getting rid of the recently formed “People’s councils”, which are acting together with regional government authorities in most parts of western Ukraine.
In Lvov, a city in the far west of Ukraine, local activists of the "National resistance council" agreed to gradually vacate the captured administrative buildings, said the head of the Lvov regional administration Petr Kolodiy. However, he added that this decision is not connected with the PM’s resignation.
Catherine Ashton, the EU’s foreign policy chief, is to meet Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich and the opposition on Wednesday, Ashton’s press service said. Ashton, who is High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and European Commission Vice-President, has traveled to Ukraine to mediate negotiations between the country’s government and the opposition.
European Council President Herman Van Rompuy has strongly condemned the violence in Ukraine and called for those responsible to be prosecuted. He also urged for freedom of assembly and expression to be respected in the country. Van Rompuy’s statement comes after the EU-Russia Summit in Brussels.
Azarov has said that he made “a very difficult decision” to resign from his post in order to provide an opportunity for all political forces to come to a compromise and end the political crisis in Ukraine.
Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Arbuzov will serve as acting prime minister until a new government is formed, a press secretary for Azarov told the Interfax news agency.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich has accepted the resignation of PM Nikolay Azarov and his cabinet, according to a decree on the presidential website. The cabinet will continue to work until a new government is formed.
One of the three policemen who were stabbed during a protest in Khersones, southern Ukraine, on Monday, died in hospital, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said, as quoted by Itar-Tass. With the latest death, a total of two protesters and two policemen were killed across Ukraine in latest clashes.
The Ukrainian parliament is to debate a bill on the creation of a special commission on changing the constitution, Arseny Yatsenyuk, the leader of opposition party Batkivshchina, said as quoted by RIA Novosti.
Ukraine’s parliament is set to debate later on Tuesday the legislation to give amnesty to the participants of the protests across the country.
Nine out of 12 anti-protest laws passed on January 16 have been canceled during the special session of the Ukrainian Parliament.
It was one of the main demands of the opposition.
Three former Ukrainian presidents are participating in a session of the country’s parliament aimed at ending the unrest in the country.
Ukraine’s Justice Minister Elena Lukash has said a state of emergency is not on the agenda.
Participants of the mass protests in Ukraine could be exempt from prosecution, if a bill, which has been registered in the country’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, is passed.
"The draft bill has been authored to prevent negative consequences for and prosecution of participants of mass protests, which have taken place between December 2013 and January 2014,” the bill’s author, Leonid Emets, an MP from the opposition Fartherland (Batkivshchina) party, told Itar-Tass. "If the bill’s passed, that would alleviate tension in the community,” he added.
Ukraine’s parliament is set to debate the laws on amnesty and the cancelation of the January 16 law. It is considered that the new law may enter in force after all buildings seized by the opposition are freed.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is planning to carry out negotiations with Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovich and the opposition leaders, according to Ashton’s press secretary, as quoted by Itar-Tass.
Members of the opposition and of the ruling party have spoken out over the submission of the resignation of Ukraine’s premier, Nikolay Azarov.
In particular, the leader of the ‘Udar’ (Strike) party, Vitaly Klitschko, believes that the move was an attempt to “save face.”
An MP from the ruling Party of Regions, Anna German, thinks “it is a responsible move from an experienced politician who could put his own ambitions lower than the interests of the state, the interests of the mutual understanding between the authorities and the community.”
A few thousand supporters of the ruling Party of Regions have rallied near the Ukrainian Parliament, demanding a stop to attempts at a coup d’etat.
The Ukrainian PM’s application for resignation does not necessarily mean he will quit his post, Vladimir Oleynik, an MP from the ruling Party of Regions, told Interfax-Ukraine. “It is essential that the president accepts such a resignation,” Oleynik stressed.
The leader of opposition party ‘Batkivshchina’ (Homeland), Arseny Yatsenyuk, has said that he does not intend to take over the post of Ukrainian premier, as quoted by Itar-Tass.
PM Nikolay Azarov has said in his statement that the conflict situation in the state threatens the economic and social development of Ukraine, as well as all of Ukrainian society and every citizen.
“With the aim of creating additional options for social and political compromise, for the peaceful solution to the conflict, I’ve made my personal decision to ask the president of Ukraine to accept my resignation from the post of Ukrainian prime minister,” Azarov said.
He also stressed that “during the stand-off the government has done everything for peaceful solution of the conflict.”
“We’ve been doing everything not to let bloodshed happen, not to have violence escalated, not to have human rights infringed upon. The government has made sure the economy and the social security functioned in extreme conditions,” the premier said, as quoted by Interfax-Ukraine.
В Верховную раду Украины приехали послы практически всех европейских государств #евромайданpic.twitter.com/0KpwlYf1G6
— Павел Шеремет (@pavelsheremet) January 28, 2014
“I believe that Ukrainians now see a light at the end of the tunnel. The line has been crossed: the Ukrainian people managed to organize in such a way that would take others decades. And I see progress in this exact way: the shaping of patriotism and self-organization,” Oleg Tyagnibok told Itar-Tass.
Nikolay Azarov has applied for resignation from the post of Ukraine’s Prime Minister, according to the Cabinet of Ministers’ website.
27 January 2014
Three policemen have been stabbed by “radical protesters” in the southern Ukrainian city of Herson, authorities report. Two of the wounded are in serious condition. The assailants, all university students, have been detained.
The Ukraine government and opposition agreed to cancel anti-riot laws adopted by the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s Parliament) on January 16 which created toughening responsibility for violations during mass unrest, Minister of Justice Elena Lukash said.
“The political decision was made to cancel those laws adopted on January 16, which caused numerous debates,” the announcement read.
Lukash also noted that those laws which didn't cause mass outcry will be further discussed during an emergency meeting of the Ukrainian parliament on Tuesday, saying that the legislature will be in line with the “European level.”
Batkivshina party leader Arseny Yatsenyuk has rejected President Yanukovich’s proposal to head the government, Ukrainian Justice Minister Elena Lukash said.
"Arseny Yatsenyuk didn't give a consent to head the government. Negotiations will be continued," the presidential press service reported.
Yanukovich earlier offered the Batkivshina party leader the opportunity to head the government, promising to dismiss PM Nikolai Azarov and his cabinet from office.
The EU is concerned about the possibility of imposing a state of emergency in Ukraine to quell the brutal protesters.
"I am alarmed by reports that the government is planning to declare a state of emergency," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said.
She stated that such a move by Ukrainian authorities would create “a further downward spiral” that would “benefit no one.”
Ashton urged opposition leaders to “dissociate themselves from those who resort to violence,” adding that she would travel to Kiev for talks on Tuesday evening.
"The only solution to the crisis is a political one. What is urgently needed is a genuine dialogue to build a new consensus on the way forward," Ashton said, urging authorities to revoke the anti-riot laws.
The self-proclaimed People’s Rada (council) of Kiev has been formed from the opposition’s self-government committee, the Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party reported on its website.
The improvised council, formed from members of opposition parties and “civil society representatives,” is determined to function until “legitimate” senior Kiev administration officials are elected.
The announcement comes as Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich meets with leaders of the three opposition parties - UDAR, Batkivshchyna, and Svoboda - as part of a task group on settling the political crisis in the country.
The meeting is taking place at the presidential administration building in Kiev, the presidential press service told ITAR-TASS.
As riots and storming of government buildings continue in western Ukraine, residents in the east of the country fear the violence could spread to their relatively calm regions too, RT’s Paula Slier reports from Donetsk.
Slier interviewed Aleksandra Green, a Jewish mother of two, who is taking the openly racist slogans of one of the opposition leaders, Oleg Tyagnibok, very seriously.
“In the children’s school now, there is a security guard. Children now take pepper sprays to school to be safe…I’m afraid for my family,” Green told RT.
“These people, protesters, have already tasted the blood and maybe they will become more violent,” she said.
Watch the full report by RT’s Slier:
Diplomats from 14 world countries with embassies in Kiev have inspected the equipment of Berkut special forces, according to a statement published on the website of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry.
According to the statement, the diplomats observed tear gas canisters, stun grenades, “Fort-500” non-lethal guns, and ammunition belonging to the special forces.
“The police officers have no firearms,” the statement stressed.
Earlier on Monday, Vitaly Lukyanenko, the spokesman for Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov, refuted media reports which stated that the government is looking to expand Berkut and the Griffon special forces unit by six times, to a 30,000-strong corps.
“There is no such decision and I very highly doubt it could ever be taken,” Lukyanenko said, as quoted by ITAR-TASS.
The UN is ready to send its special envoy to Ukraine to help continue a dialogue between the government and the opposition, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, told Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich in a phone conversation Monday, according to Yanukovich’s press service.
The UN Chief has “called on all sides to show maximum restraint and to seek ways of resolving the crisis through dialogue,” the press service said in a statement.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he regrets that “outrageous violent actions of fascist-type fellows” rioting in Ukraine have received “no evaluation in principle” by EU bodies, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Lavrov discussed the situation in Ukraine with Swiss President and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Didier Burkhalter, in a phone conversation on Monday.
When asked by Burkhalter on Russia’s view of the situation in Ukraine, the minister stressed that Russia is urging a political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis with no foreign intervention.
Ukraine’s Interior Minister Vitaly Zakharchenko has discussed the political situation in the country on the phone with the US Ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, according to the Interior Ministry press-service.
Pyatt stressed that the current government negotiations with the opposition are significant, adding that both sides should stay calm.
In turn, the minister gave assurances that the police will refrain from using force. However, he added that the protesters aren’t meeting this with any concomitant understanding. The situation is complex because there are no negotiators from the opposition he said adding that there are also extremists among the opposition.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is concerned with the escalation of tension and the ongoing violence in Ukraine, ICRC’s Moscow department head, Pascal Cuttat told Itar-Tass.
An ICRC delegation has met with both Ukrainian Foreign Ministry officials and opposition activists, urging the sides to respect the work of the Red Cross volunteers. According to Cuttat, the volunteers have helped about 300 people injured in Ukraine over the last week alone.
The Ukrainian Interior Ministry has confirmed to Interfax that opposition activists are no longer occupying the building of the Ministry of Justice.
Investigators have been working in the building after the protesters, including those of the Spilna Sprava (“common cause”) movement, have left it, the Interior Ministry’s press service said.
The ministry addressed all the protesters occupying other government institutions “to follow the movement’s example and to voluntarily free the occupied buildings.”
The Ministry of Justice was freed following threats by Ukrainian Justice Minister, Elena Lukash, who said she will demand a state of emergency to be imposed. Opposition party leaders negotiated the move with Spilna Sprava, while the National Resistance HQ said they have nothing to do with the ministry’s seizure.
Despite leaving the ministry, Spilna Sprava leader, Aleksandr Danilyuk, has continued to call for blocking of other administrative buildings across Ukraine on his Facebook page.
Watch RT's Peter Oliver reporting from Kiev:
The Ukrainian government has drafted a bill facilitating restriction of internet sites, the press service of Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers told Itar-Tass.
The draft bill allows any individual or organization to file a request for blocking a webpage to a special body, the National Commission for the State Regulation of Communications).
The commission’s experts then decide on whether to block the website in 7 days’ time. A site may be unblocked by the authorities recalling their decision or by site owners appealing it in court.
The bill follows the controversial January 16 legislation, which, according to the opposition, has prepared the grounds for internet censorship in Ukraine.
.
Opposition supporters blocking entrance to justice ministry. They tell me the are guarding it from "provocateurs" pic.twitter.com/c615etSc4O
— Peter Oliver (@PeterGOliver_RT) January 27, 2014
The Ukrainian opposition is ready to continue talks with the government to settle the political crisis in the country, a statement from the opposition’s National Resistance Headquarters said on Monday.
“Despite the authorities’ policy towards wrecking the talks and imposing a state of emergency, the opposition is ready to continue talking in order to prevent further escalation and bloodshed,” the statement said.
It accused the authorities of attempting to undermine the talks by blaming the opposition for occupying the Ukrainian Justice Ministry building. There are no protesters currently occupying the building, the statement stressed.
The opposition also leveled accusations of using “armed gangs,” commonly referred to as “titushki” against peaceful protesters, claiming that “hundreds” have been injured by the thugs. It also claimed there are unceasing “kidnappings, mass arrests, raids, taking [protesters] hostage and persecution of journalists.”
The opposition’s Spilna Sprava (“common cause”) group is no longer occupying the Ukrainian Justice Ministry building, the group’s leader, Aleksandr Danilyuk, says in his Facebook posts.
According to Danilyuk, some activists from Independence Square (Maidan) are now actually guarding the ministry’s entrance from attempts to re-take it. The situation has apparently resulted in a row between the right-wing group and the opposition leaders rallying on Maidan, with Danilyuk calling the opposition’s “National Resistance HQ” a “bunch of provocateurs.”
Hearing opposition occupying justice ministry may be leaving. Going to have a look to confirm.
— Peter Oliver (@PeterGOliver_RT) January 27, 2014
The Ukrainian opposition claims to have seized another administrative building – the regional council – in the northern city of Chernigov, announcing they plan to base the headquarters of the new “People’s Rada” (“parliament”) there. Such alternative local councils have already been proposed in several other Ukrainian cities, with Sumy city protesters proclaiming one on Sunday.
There were no reports of clashes or resistance. Opposition MPs have asked their supporters not to build any barricades and to “behave nicely,” according to Ukrainska Pravda daily.
Чернігівці захопили зал засідань облради. #Євромайдан#Чернігів#революціяpic.twitter.com/CI6PZUjzRg
— Oleksii Frantsuz (@ofrantsuz) January 27, 2014
#Чернігів'ська Обласна рада — пiд контролем народу, всi 6 поверхiв. Люди вимагають позачергову сесію, гріються чаєм. pic.twitter.com/XptcAej7RY
— Andy Alex (@andyalexs) January 27, 2014
The move comes after a crowd of rioters stormed the city administration building on Saturday, which they have since been occupying.
An extraordinary session of the council has been called and agreed upon with local Party of Regions’ MPs, but it was not immediately clear when it will take place.
Ukraine’s ex-President Leonid Kravchuk has called on the Ukrainian government and the opposition to gather for round table talks, Itar-Tass reports, citing Kravchuk’s aide.
Civil society and representatives of the clergy have also been invited to the talks, aimed at finding a solution to the political crisis in Ukraine, the aide said. It was not immediately clear, who will represent the government at the talks.
The Ukrainian opposition claims they have nothing to do with the protesters who seized the building of the country’s Ministry of Justice, Interfax Ukraine reported, quoting an opposition MP, Stepan Kubiv, who added that the opposition is in general against the taking of buildings, especially those which are important and significant to the state.
US dept warned citizens in #Ukraine to stay away from crowds & protests, western ambassadors visited the center of protests earlier today
— PaulaSlier_RT (@PaulaSlier_RT) January 27, 2014
The Ukrainian Minister of Energy, Eduard Stavitsky, has declared that the situation at the country’s nuclear power stations is under control. It follows numerous anonymous bomb threat calls to hydroelectric and nuclear power stations.
Protesters also tried to seize the country’s Ministry of Energy on Saturday, which triggered the initiation of a special security mode at Ukraine’s power stations.
It comes against the backdrop of the IAEA coming to Ukraine for an unscheduled check. Ukraine’s leadership has stated they work with both the nuclear watchdog and Russia in the field of nuclear energy, which is linked to the events that are going on in the country.
A rally supporting the Ukrainian president is taking place in the city of Dnepropetrovsk, Itar-Tass reported, quoting the city administration. The rally is set to last for an unlimited period of time, and the city administration will provide the demonstrators with heating and warm tea (the temperature there is currently -11 degrees Celsius).
The Ukrainian authorities should re-establish credibility, and sides should refrain from using force, Poland’s Foreign Ministry declared. It follows a phone conversation between the Ukrainian and Polish Foreign Ministers. “Minister Kozhara has expressed his concern over the fact that the attitudes of opposition activists are becoming more radical, which is illustrated by the occupation of new government buildings in the regions, as well as the Ministry Justice in Kiev,” Poland’s Foreign Ministry stated, as quoted by Itar-Tass.
Justice ministry still occupied in #Kiev despite opposition leaders asking them to leave. Some opposition arguing with each other outside.
— Peter Oliver (@PeterGOliver_RT) January 27, 2014
People are being evacuated from the train station in the city of Lvov after a report that an explosive device was inside the building, Itar-Tass reported.
A Kiev court has ordered the “UDAR” party leader, Vitaly Klitschko, to disclose whether or not he has a US or German residence permit.
An unknown man has hanged himself from the metal carcass of the New Year tree on Kiev’s Square of Independence, the UNIAN news agency reported, quoting the country’s Interior Ministry. An investigation into the incident has been launched.
There are currently around 2,000 people gathered on Kiev’s Square of Independence. The temperature is -14 degrees Celsius, so people are warming themselves up next to braziers.
Kiev’s prosecutor’s office has closed 35 criminal cases connected with the protests in November and December 2013, the body’s press office head told Itar-Tass.
Members of the Ukrainian rebel army have claimed responsibility for the killing of a policeman in Kiev on Friday.
Moscow has expressed concern over the rise in nationalist attitudes in Ukraine, “including anti-Semitic calls of some Maidan activists which the European bodies choose to hush up for reasons undefined,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry stated, as quoted by RIA Novosti.
In the western Ukrainian town of Kolomyeh, anti-government protesters attacked the office of the Party of Regions and burnt the party’s symbols. About a thousand people gathered on the town’s main square
Fifteen activists have been detained over the assault on the regional administration in the city of Dnepropetrovsk, located in central Ukraine, some 450km from the capital, Kiev.
Ukrainian police have launched a criminal case over the seizure of Ministry of Justice. It comes after earlier reports that Minister of Justice Elena Lukash threatened to demand the Council for National Security and Defense declare a state of emergency unless the building is freed.
Ukraine’s Security Service says in a statement on its website that the cases of bomb threats in hydroelectric and nuclear power stations have become more frequent recently.
One Polish journalist was injured and another detained during the crackdown on anti-government protests in the town of Cherkassy, situated about 200km from Kiev. Both the journalists are citizens of Belarus. The Union of Polish Journalists expressed concern over the possibility that the two could be deported to their home country after the incident.
80 #journalists have been injured since the eruption of the #protests in December of 2013. #Ukraine#truth
— PaulaSlier_RT (@PaulaSlier_RT) January 27, 2014
A hand grenade was thrown at police forces during the opposition assault on the Ukrainian House, the Interior Ministry says. However, the grenade didn’t explode, as the pin remained in the device. There were about 300 security forces personnel inside the building at the time of the incident.
Ukrainian Justice Minister Elena Lukash has said she will ask the National Security and Defense Council to introduce a state of emergency if rioters do not leave the ministry building.
"If the protesters do not leave the Justice Ministry building in half an hour I will ask the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine to impose the state of emergency,” she told Inter TV channel.
26 January 2014
Local media reported that no one was hurt during the seizure of the building of the Justice Ministry in central Kiev. Following the incident, political organization Obchee Delo claimed responsibility, posting a message on their Facebook profile.
The building of Justice Ministry occupied by protesters:
Под МинЮстом сейчас. via @sheleviy#Євромайдан#Евромайдан#Euromaidanpic.twitter.com/XlFy2WC1Ud
— ЄВРОМАЙДАН (@euromaidan) January 26, 2014
Rioters in Ukraine have seized one of the Justice Ministry’s buildings in central Kiev near Independence Square, police reported. “At 22:38 security in the building called in an attempted seizure of the building. Information was confirmed, the building remains seized,” Unian news agency quoted the police as saying.
Opposition leaders in Ukraine have no idea how to end the crisis, a member of parliament with the ruling Party of Regions, Vadim Kolesnichenko, told ITAR-TASS. "Regrettably, last night in Kiev demonstrated that the opposition leaders are unable to fulfill the obligations they have undertaken," he said.
"Arseniy Yatsenyuk's [leader of the opposition Batkivshchina party] statement that he is ready to head the Ukrainian government to continue the European integration course looks treacherous after the turmoil the protesters staged at the Ukrainian House in European Square. It looks like the opposition leaders have neither any idea nor solutions how to get out of the current situation," Kolesnichenko added.
On Sunday, several foreign diplomats - including European, US, and Canadian ambassadors - “inspected” Kiev’s Maidan and spoke to representatives of the radical “Right Sector” group, the press service of the opposition Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party said in a statement.
The diplomats are “convinced” that the protests in central Kiev are “not dangerous” and that protesters do not have “stockpiles of arms,” the report says. They also allegedly agreed that “beasts” and “armed gangs” were responsible for the violence, while protesters “are defending their rights and dignity.”
Officials arrived around the time of a memorial service for a deceased Maidan activist, due to which a Sunday rally was cancelled in central Kiev and violent riots ceased. It is not clear whether the diplomats planned their arrival time accordingly.
Russia’s embassy in Ukraine has refuted rumors claiming that Russian special forces have been dispatched to Kiev to deal with the protesters.
“In connection with allegations circulated by some Ukrainian mass media about the arrival of Russian special forces to Kiev, the press service of the Russian embassy stresses that such reports have nothing to do with the reality and are provocative by nature,” the embassy said in a statement.
The Russian diplomatic mission has also called on mass media to be careful not to fall into the trap of reporting false information intentionally provided by some individuals.
At least 311 police officers have been injured in the Kiev riots, 118 of whom have been hospitalized with head injuries, fractures, burns, and stab and slash wounds. Some have also been poisoned by “unknown substances,” the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said in a Sunday statement.
The ministry’s press service also informed UNIAN news agency that 116 people have been detained in connection with the mass riots in central Kiev and that a criminal investigation into “mass disorder” on Grushevskogo Street has been opened.
Several people who were previously convicted, including those who have been charged with especially grave crimes, are among the detained.
Pope Francis on Sunday called for “constructive dialogue” in Ukraine, saying he was praying in the Vatican for the country and for those who have lost their lives in the ongoing unrest there. Following the Pope’s speech to thousands of faithful who gathered in St. Peter’s Square, two doves were released by children standing alongside his holiness.
However, as soon as the birds of peace took off, they were immediately attacked by a crow and a seagull. The crowd gasped as one dove broke free from the gull, losing some feathers, and another one was repeatedly pecked at by the crow. It was not clear what happened to the doves after they flew off.
0_0 RT @dominicru: Pretty sure I read this in Nostradamus: Pope’s peace doves attacked by crow http://t.co/HC53bGj709pic.twitter.com/26JM3jgtlY
— Jana Kasperkevic (@kasperka) January 26, 2014
People in Donetsk are rallying in support of President Yanukovich and against the unrest gripping some of the country’s regions, Igor Chechesov of the Donetsk Party of Regions branch told Itar-Tass.
“The common thought voiced at almost all of those rallies is supporting the president and calling for the mayhem happening in several regions to end… The speakers are also demanding to abide by the Constitution of Ukraine,” Chechesov said.
Earlier on Sunday, five people described as provocateurs were detained at a pro-government rally by the police. A group of masked people with clubs briefly clashed with members of the rally, prompting police intervention. One man received a head injury after being hit with a club, Itar-Tass reports.
Protesters occupied an administrative building in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, proclaiming “People’s Rada” – an alternative regional parliament. The occupation of the building followed an opposition rally that claimed to have gathered 5,000 people. No clashes or resistance were reported during the taking of the building.
Meanwhile in Zaporozhye, the authorities have opened a criminal investigation into the attempt to storm the administrative building there. The attempt followed negotiations with a local city administration official, with media reports saying it was led by “radicals.” According to reports on Twitter, several people were injured in explosions from police stun grenades.
Hundreds of protesters, who gathered near government buildings in the southern Ukrainian cities of Odessa and Dnepropetrovsk, are being urged to storm the buildings, say reports on Twitter.
Earlier in Dnepropetrovsk, protesters who attempted to breach the barriers cordoning off the city administration building clashed with a group of men in sports uniform, Interfax-Ukraine said, citing local media.
#Одесса#Евромайдан#euromaidan#euromaidanodessapic.twitter.com/v9Fidr8bWJ
— Nick (@NickSerkoff) January 26, 2014
The majority of people in Odessa do not support the rioters, the head of the city’s administration, Nikolay Skorik, told Itar-Tass. According to Skorik, the people have voiced their desire for the “stability and integrity of the country.”
Sunday’s riots in the south of Ukraine have been described as a daring action by the opposition, as this part of the country is traditionally considered to be supportive of President Yanukovich and his Party of Regions.
Hundreds of anti-government protesters have besieged a city administration building in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporozhye. Footage from the scene showed a large crowd of protesters facing off against a police line at the main entrance to the building. Media reports said there was an attempt to storm the premises, but there was no immediate confirmation of any demonstrators breaking inside.
Taking a photo of himself wearing protective helmet and vest, RT’s Alexey Yaroshevsky says he “still can’t get used to the fact that this is the average Kiev selfie now.”
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Ceasefire in Kiev. Protesters reinforcing barricades and mourning a deceased activist. Traditional Sunday rally has been cancelled
— Alexey Yaroshevsky (@Yaro_RT) January 26, 2014
Two policemen have been wounded during the attack on the Ukrainian House, an international convention center, according to the RIA-Novosti news agency. Earlier reports suggested there were several hundred protesters gathered near the center. The crowd reportedly threw rocks and fireworks to break the windows.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry has ruled out using armed forces against rallying protesters, the country’s military chief, Pavel Lebedev, told the Itar-Tass news agency. "The army will abide strictly by the constitution and laws of Ukraine that set out clearly its role, functions and tasks, including the use of armed forces," Lebedev said.
Ukrainian MP (Party of Regions) Nikolay Rudkovsky has submitted a bill aimed at canceling the January-16 laws that triggered the unrest and violence raging in the country’s capital. The bill is entitled “Project of the Law: On the declaration of certain laws of Ukraine which significantly curbed the constitutional rights and freedoms of Ukrainian citizens, invalid,” a memorandum for the document said.
Courts across the Cherkassk region have ruled that 41 participants in the seizure of the local administration building should be taken into custody. Seven more protesters have been placed under house arrest.
The Ukrainian House, or International Convention Center (ICC), will host an opposition press center, according to the ICC’s commandant, Aleksey Yakushevsky.
"I believe that a press center for journalists will be opened here, as well as a station for feeding and warming those hundreds of people who we cannot cater for at the House of Trade Unions," Yakushevsky said, as cited by Itar-Tass.
MPs in the Ternopol and the Ivano-Frankovsk regions have adopted bills banning the ruling Party of Regions and the Communist Party of Ukraine, Itar-Tass reports.
Museum workers at the Ukrainian House discovered the reserves of the Kiev History Museum, on the upper floors of the international convention center, were unsealed, after riot police had left the building.
“They [museum workers] saw that the seals on the doors to the reserves rooms were broken open, as well as seals on some of the boxes inside,” said chairman of the Ukrainian center for museums development, Vladislav Pioro.
It was not immediately clear if any of the items were missing.
President Yanukovich’s administration is preparing a bill, which would allow freezing the bank accounts of companies suspected of financing extremist activity, the Ukrainian TSN TV channel reports, as cited by Itar-Tass. The bill is planned to be voted on at a special session of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) on January 28.
The EU is still ready to sign the association agreement with Ukraine if the nation is committed to a free, united, democratic Ukraine and the values on which the agreement is based on, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said after a meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
The siege of the convention center by protesters in Kiev is now over, RT’s Alexey Yaroshevsky reports. The head of the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform party, Vitaly Klitschko, played a key role in negotiating the policemen's retreat.
There were around 200 riot police inside the building at the time of the siege, all of whom exited through a side window.
The head of the UDAR party, Vitaly Klitschko, is now mediating a resolution to the Kiev convention center siege, according to RT’s Alexey Yaroshevsky.
Interior troops are leaving the Ukrainian House international convention center in Kiev, being taken out one by one, RT's Alexey Yaroshevsky reported.
25 January 2014
Rioters are now attempting to storm the Ukrainian House international convention center, which reportedly has about 200 riot police inside, RT's Alexey Yaroshevsky reported. Watch his report from the scene:
Watch RT’s report by Alexey Yaroshevsky.
Relatively quiet at the barricades tonight, but lots of happening politically tonight in Kiev. Will sum it up in a few tweets
— Alexey Yaroshevsky (@Yaro_RT) January 25, 2014
Victor Yanukovich has proposed the post of prime minister to the head of the “Batkivschina” (Fatherland) opposition party, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the Justice Minister Elena Lukash said after the president’s meeting with opposition leaders. Vitaly Klitchko, head of the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform party, was offered the post of deputy prime minister for humanitarian affairs.
Yanukovich also agreed to review the constitution and establish a working group for the transition to a parliamentary-presidential republic, First Deputy of the Presidential Administration Andrey Portnov said according to the presidential website.
The Ukrainian president said that he will consider the possibility of granting amnesty to the protesters arrested during the political crisis if they vacate all seized buildings around the country and Independence Square in Kiev. The two sides agreed to gradually clear the streets of central Kiev from protesters and police forces.
There has been no reaction from the opposition so far. Waiting for that speech at the maidan to see where it goes
— Alexey Yaroshevsky (@Yaro_RT) January 25, 2014
А это Инвано-Франковск. photo by Natalya Kablyuk #Євромайдан#Евромайдан#Euromaidanpic.twitter.com/VNtO7vf9jn
— ЄВРОМАЙДАН (@euromaidan) January 25, 2014
Thousands of demonstrators have come out in Odessa, urging the government to stabilize the situation in the country. The protesters have gathered near the city’s administration building with signs reading, “Stop Maidan!” and “Stop the coup!”
Nikolay Skorik, head of the city's administration, assured that there will be no coup in Odessa, as people have supported and still support the Ukrainian president.
Violent clashes between protesters and police in the center of Kiev on Grushevskogo Street have stopped, RIA Novosti reported. It has been quiet for at least an hour.
About 2,000 protesters have seized the building of the Poltava administration, its press-service told Itar-Tass. The protesters are meeting with the chairman of the Poltava Regional State Administration, Aleksandr Udovychenko, in the session hall of the council.
The Interior Ministry said it will consider as “extremists” those left on Independence Square in Kiev and in the seized government buildings.
Two police officers, seized by protesters in Kiev and "tortured", have been released and taken to hospital, said the Interior Ministry. Watch RT’s Peter Oliver reporting from Kiev.
The president of Ukraine, Victor Yanukovich, is meeting with opposition leaders: Vitaly Klitchko, head of the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform party; Arseniy Yatsenyuk, head of the “Batkivschina” (Fatherland) opposition party, and Oleg Tyagnybok, the leader of the All-Ukrainian Union "Svoboda"(Freedom).
Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov: Foreign mediation now totally inappropriate for Ukraine http://t.co/jm5Jz2LOzr@RusembUkraine
— MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) January 25, 2014
The so-called head of the national resistance urged the president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovich, not to declare a state of emergency in the country.
"We appeal to Viktor Yanukovich: the state of emergency means the death of thousands of people, it is the divide of the country and the destruction of Ukraine as an independent and sovereign state," asserted the statement, posted on the Batkivschina (Fatherland) opposition party’s site.
At the same time, the statement notes that “prudence, self-control and responsibility for Ukraine’s children and the future state will bring about a peaceful outcome to this social crisis."
The statement claimed that the party has information about the Ukrainian presidential administration’s preparations for declaring a state of emergency and “clearing” Independence square in Kiev.
Guys coming up to us on #Грушевского barricades warning about a possible sniper on the roof of buildings.
— Peter Oliver (@PeterGOliver_RT) January 25, 2014
Deputies of the Lvov regional council recognized a legislative organ established by the local protesters, the so-called Narodnaya Rada (People's Council), that is to represent the interests of the Ukrainian people. 70 deputies voted in favor, with most of the council represented by opposition parties. The decision contains a recommendation to all local councils to adopt similar resolutions.
The army, the Interior Ministry and other law enforcement agencies cannot carry out any activities involving the use of special equipment, weapons and military equipment, aimed at restricting the rights of citizens to assemble peacefully in the region, the regional authorities said in a statement.
Due to the actions of the president and parliament and the adoption of anti-protest laws on January 16, the regional council said it withdraws all powers delegated to the Lvov region by state administration.
Just seen riot training course taking place on independence square in #Kiev rioters learning how to use shields in groups.
— Peter Oliver (@PeterGOliver_RT) January 25, 2014
The authorities in Vinnitsa, central Ukraine, and Сhernigov, northern Ukraine, have started criminal investigations into the seizure of local administrative buildings by protesters, reported the Itar-Tass news agency.
Production line breaking up rocks to be taken to the front line in #Kiev and hurled at police. pic.twitter.com/lfb2sxxdFG
— Peter Oliver (@PeterGOliver_RT) January 25, 2014
A protester who took part in the Kiev riots has died, according to the state health department of the Kiev city administration, RIA Novosti reported. Authorities said that the victim arrived at the Kiev City Clinical Hospital № 17 on Wednesday. The leadership of the Lvov regional faction of the nationalist “Svoboda” (“Liberty”) movement said that on Wednesday a protester from Lvov, Roman Senik, 45, died in hospital from wounds sustained in clashes. It is not yet clear whether the two reports are about the same man.
The head of the Ukrainian Ministry of the Interior, Vitaly Zakharchenko, said in a statement that attempts to peacefully resolve the conflict peacefully, have been futile, because protesters were ignoring truce agreements.
“These events which really represent extremist actions should not go unnoticed by the international community. The opposition leaders aren’t dissociating themselves from radical forces, and at this time they’re not able to control them and so put Ukrainians under threat,” the statement reads as cited by Itar-Tass.
Watch RT’s Peter Oliver reporting from Kiev with the latest on the unrest.
Around ten wheelchair users carrying “Stop aggression” billboards are on their way to Grushevskogo street, the epicenter of the stand-off between protesters and police, demanding both sides put an end to clashes, Deutshe Welle reports.
Participants of the rally in front of the Prosecutor General’s office in Kiev are leaving the protest site, despite earlier plans to seize the building, Interfax-Ukraine reports.
Around 500 protesters rallied for freeing detained activists.
Protesters have seized the Chernigov City Council building and have been demanding the ouster of its head, Vladimir Khomenko, Itar-Tass reports. Protesters have been screaming out slogans like: “Ukraine rise, Chernigov come out”, “No to Repressions”, “Dismissal”.
The protesters are currently creating a corridor to release police remaining in the building.
President Yanukovich has appointed Vladimir Makeenko the head of Kiev City Council. Makeenko previously was the chief of the procedure committee of the country’s parliament, the Rada. In a separate decree, Yanukovich dismissed the former city council head, Alexander Popov, who is currently under investigation.
Watch Ruptly video below to see anti-government protesters fortifying on Kiev's Grushevskogo street on Saturday morning.
A protester from Lvov, Roman Senik, 45, who was injured during clashes with police on January 22, has died in hospital, according to the leadership of the Lvov regional faction of the nationalist “Svoboda” (“Liberty”) movement.
“For several days doctors have been fighting for his life, but the wounds were too severe. His lungs were badly scarred, he underwent surgery several times and his hand had to be amputated,” said Irina Sekh, a Unkrainian MP and leader of the Lvov “Svoboda” faction.
Rallies in support of President Yanukovich have started all over the coal-rich Donbass region. The leader of the Donetsk Party of Regions, Igor Chichasov, told Itar-Tass he expected 300,000 people to take part.
“Donbass has made its choice”, he said. "We decisively support all the efforts the president has taken for stabilizing the situation in the country.”
Ukraine's energy minister, Eduard Stavytsky, says protesters were prevented from seizing the main energy ministry building in Kiev.
"There was an attempt to seize the building. About 100 armed people came. I went to them and said that if they did not leave the building peacefully then the whole energy system of Ukraine could collapse," Stavytsky said, as cited by Reuters.
The protesters are still blocking the entry into the Ministry according to the official, who described it as “a direct threat to the whole of the Ukrainian energy system.”
The building of the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy and Coal mining, in the center of Kiev, has been occupied by activists from the “Common action” movement, according to the organization’s leader, Aleksandr Danilyuk, interviewed by the Ukrainian 5th Channel.
Protesters in Vinnitsa, central Ukraine, have occupied the city council building, says Itar-Tass citing a report by the Ukrainian 5th Channel. Police were unable to prevent the crowd from getting inside the building. The protesters are demanding that the authorities step down.
During the Geneva 2 talks, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed the situation in Ukraine with his American counterpart, warning him against interfering in events in Ukraine.
“I made John Kerry aware of how very important it is at the moment not to interfere into the process and avoid any statements that would heat up the situation. I hope that I was heard,” Lavrov said in an interview with Rossiya 1 TV channel’s Sergey Brilyov.
Stefan Fule, the EU commissioner for enlargement, has called on Ukraine to end violence and resume dialogue, according to a statement, released following his two-day visit to Kiev.
“During my negotiations I expressed the EU’s deep concern with the latest events and underlined the necessity to put an end to violence, to stand against those responsible for human rights violations and to continue a comprehensive national dialogue to find a way out of the crisis, which threatens to destabilize the country,” the statement reads, as cited by Itar-Tass.
The Ukrainian Ministry of the Interior has demanded the immediate release of two police officers, who were kidnapped on Friday by the so-called “Maidan security”.
The police officers are reportedly being held hostage in a Kiev city council building, which is under siege by protesters. According to earlier reports, three police personnel were attacked and captured. One, who was severely wounded, was later released.
After overnight negotiations with a number protest leaders resulted in no solution, the police threatened to storm the city council building.
“Ukraine’s Ministry of the Interior demands the immediate release of the police officers. In case our demand is not met, the police will be forced to take measures to free those kidnapped,” the Ministry’s statement reads, as cited by RIA Novosti.
12 rally participants have been arrested in Kiev, following hearings in two courts.
“These people have been charged with participation in mass unrest, marked by violence, arson, resisting law enforcers by using weapons,” the press-service of the Kiev Prosecutor’s office said, as cited by Itar-Tass.
The Polish PM has laid the blame for the unrest in neighboring Ukraine on the country’s president and his administration.
“We have no doubt that President Yanukovich’s behavior and his administration’s actions have led to this dramatic crisis, where the unity of Ukraine is being put into question,” Donald Tusk said, as cited by Interfax-Ukraine.
He added that Ukraine, torn by inner conflicts would, “sooner or later represent a serious problem for the whole region.”
Ukraine’s Ministry of Interior announced they have detained a gang in Kiev and seized their arsenal, which included two assault rifles, four pistols and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
Law enforcers say they have evidence that the gang was involved in kidnapping and supplying arms to protesters in the Ukrainian capital.
Around 20 such groups could be currently active in Kiev, according to the police.
Ukraine will not refuse help from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in resolving the ongoing political crisis, if such help is offered, Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov told European media in Switzerland.
Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovich said he aims to continue dialogue with the opposition.
“We have urged and continue to urge to sit down at the negotiation table and discuss everyone’s positions, find compromises, which are critical to solving today’s situation,” the president said during a meeting with clergy on Friday.
An explosion went off near the police station in Cherkassy, central Ukraine. Seven windows were reportedly broken, according to Espresso.tv. There are no reported injuries.
The opposition has denied the Interior Ministry's report that three police officers were attacked by protesters.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich promised to fire those responsible for preparing the EU agreement of such "poor quality.”
The agreement was against the country’s national interest and was “digging a grave” for the nation, Yanukovich said during a meeting with clergy. The president did not name any names.
“We are not running anywhere. Nobody is pulling us anywhere. We want to preserve our sovereignty. We are not claiming anyone’s territory, but we will not give up what is ours,” he said.
24 January 2014
Ruptly’s video footage shows rioters throwing more tires into the fire amid clashes:
A police officer was shot dead in Kiev on Friday night. Witnesses heard the shots and saw two people running away from the scene, Unian news agency reported. The victim lived near the Berkut living quarters.
It is not clear whether the incident is connected to the ongoing unrest in the city.
US Secretary of State John Kerry once again confirmed Washington’s support for Ukrainian protesters during his speech at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. Kerry said the US is working with its allies and top Ukrainian officials to end the violence.
“We are working with our partners to press the government of Ukraine to forego violence, to address the concerns of peaceful protesters, to foster dialogue, promote the freedom of assembly and expression,” he said.
Kerry added that he received a text message shortly before beginning his speech from US diplomats in Kiev, who are negotiating with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych “to try to achieve calm and help move in this direction in the next days.”
Twelve people have been taken into custody over suspicions of participating in the violent riots on Grushevskogo Street.
Truce they say? Tires burning again, firecrackers and molotovs are hurled in central Kiev. Police not retaliating pic.twitter.com/YIVBFbDRO2
— Alexey Yaroshevsky (@Yaro_RT) January 24, 2014
The former EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, has denied accusations that the West is worsening the crisis in Ukraine. Speaking to RT from Davos in Switzerland, he said: “I don’t think that the EU is inflaming the situation. On the contrary, what the EU is trying to do is to try to find a peaceful solution that entails some kind of negotiations, like in any other crisis, between the government and opposition with the help of other countries that are interested in it.”
Foreign nationals who have previously been involved in military operations abroad are involved in the violence in Ukraine, said Viktor Yanukovich.
"Not only Ukrainians joined this [violence] but a number of people from other countries who participated in various military operations, regional ones, and who are wanted around the world. They are hiding in seized buildings. We know that there are weapons," he said at a meeting with representatives of public and church organizations.
Opposition supporters seized the regional administration building, which also houses the regional council in Khmelnitsky, western Ukraine, UNIAN reported.
The protesters demanding the resignation of the local governor stormed the first and second floors of the building. 30-40 activists gathered near the building, calling for the governor to write an official letter of resignation.
Arnold Schwarzenegger has shot a video sending a message of support to the Ukrainian people.
“I want to send a message to the people of the Ukraine to let them know that I wish them all the best of luck in a peaceful struggle for democracy and freedom,” he said.
Crimean authorities have asked the government to declare a state of emergency in the country.
"We appeal to President Viktor Yanukovich, the Council of National Security and Defense and the deputies of Ukraine, to stop the lawlessness, anarchy and violence spreading across the country, and declare a state of emergency. We offer to cease funding from the state budget regions that de facto declared themselves outlawed, where the government has been displaced by violence, to restore constitutional order in the regions" the statement on the Crimean parliament’s website said.
People have gathered in Independence Square in Kiev to honor those who died during the protests.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has stated that there will be changes made to the laws passed on January 16.
“Experts will work out the questions together with the opposition and we will prepare a compromise solution, and in Parliament we will vote on the relevant changes,” Yanukovych said, according to the state press agency.
The Ukrainian parliament is to consider ‘reformatting’ the government in an extraordinary session, the president said.
"Next Tuesday at the extraordinary session, we will make a decision about the government, and I’ll sign it. We will reshuffle the cabinet to find its optimum professional composition,” Yanukovich said at a meeting with the church heads and religious organizations in Ukraine, the President’s press-service reported. "The reshuffled cabinet should work for the Ukrainian state."
The country’s authorities are looking to further negotiations to find a compromise and exit the political crisis, Yanukovich added.
The Ukrainian government and the opposition have agreed to an amnesty for the arrested protesters that took part in the Kiev riots, said Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovich.
Ukraine is discussing international mediation of the current crisis in the country with Switzerland and the EU, the country’s Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov says.
Replying to a question in Davos, whether he sees a role for international mediators in the negotiations with the opposition, Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov said that Ukraine is discussing international mediation of the current crisis in the country with Switzerland and the EU.
The Ukrainian PM also noted that he sees a role for international mediators in the negotiations with the opposition in Ukraine.
“Whatever is good for a peaceful settlement should be used," he said, answering a question at the economic forum in Davos, Switzerland. Azarov noted that he met EU Commissioner Štefan Füle, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Swiss President Didier Burkhalter in Davos.
The prime minister added that it is not yet clear who is behind organizing the riots, which as he maintained on Thursday are a coup attempt. He stressed that extremist forces were behind the mass protests.
Human Rights Watch, an international non-governmental organization urges the investigation of cases of beating activists by police officers in Kiev.
“Police in Kiev face serious challenges, but nothing can justify the vicious beatings we’ve documented,” said Yulia Gorbunova, Ukraine researcher at Human Rights Watch. “These are very serious crimes that need thorough investigation, and the people responsible should be held accountable.”
It’s not just Kiev engulfed in the flames of protests: Demonstrations are going on in many other Ukrainian cities. In some of them (mostly cities in western Ukraine) protesters have attempted and even been successful in seizing local administration buildings.
After radical activists attempted to take the building of the local administration in Chernovtsy in southwestern Ukrainian, the city’s prosecutor office opened a criminal case.
Киев Черновцы с вами #евромайдан#Київ#революціяpic.twitter.com/vQxmvwMRPS
— Артем Артемка (@Perryboysart) January 24, 2014
Almost a 1,000 people, involved in violent riots at Grushevskogo Street, are being checked for links to radical groups, Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs has said. Protesters, who seized the Trade Unions Building and Kiev’s mayoral office, have “a fair quantity” of guns, it said.
About 200 people have gathered outside the local state administration building in the town of Cherkassy about 150km (90 miles) southeast of Kiev, demanding release of 58 people arrested yesterday evening.
The Ukrainian Interior Ministry expects one more provocation in Kiev, maybe with a fatality caused by gunfire.
“The ministry urges radical protesters not to take extreme actions aimed at inciting a civil war and causing deaths,” it said in a statement, as quoted by RIA Novosti.
Germany has summoned Ukraine's ambassador to clarify Berlin’s position on the uprising in Kiev and demand the message be passed without delay to President Yanukovich and PM Azarov, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry stated.
Over 100 protesters have blocked state international Highway M10 near the western city of Novoyavorovsk in the Lvov Region with burning tires, reports Ukrainian Agency UNIAN. As a result, the traffic (mainly trucks) is at a standstill.
The M10, or Lvov-Krakovets Highway, connects the western Ukrainian city of Lvov with Krakovets, a town on the border with Poland.
As clashes continue in Kiev, the Jewish community outside the country is deeply concerned about the situation of Jews in Ukraine, since two Jewish men have already been beaten in protests, including an Israeli teacher in a Kiev synagogue, reports Alexey Yaroshevsky from Kiev.
“We are worried about Jews in Ukraine at the moment because if there is anti-Semitic violence, there will be no mercy for anyone: neither for women, nor for children,” says David Yarovol from Israeli Immigrant Community.
Local Jewish community refused to comment on the latest case [of the beaten teacher] as they feared retribution from extremist groups.
The protesters put a huge banner of Stepan Bandera - a controversial leader of the Ukrainian national movement in the 1940s, who was accused of having a cruel attitude towards Jews - in Independence Square. Also Nazi graffiti can be seen in Kiev streets
For more information watch Alexey Yaroshevsky’s report.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs revealed the details of medical examinations of the bodies of two men - an Armenian national from Dnepropetrovsk, Sergey Nigoyan, and Belarus citizen Mikhail Zhiznevsky - who were officially confirmed dead after the recent clashes in Kiev.
Gunshot wounds were the causes of death in both cases, one man was wounded by canister shot with alloy of lead, the other was hit by a hunting bullet, reported Vitaly Sakal from Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The ammunition [that killed both men] is not used by police, adds Sakal.
France’s Ministry of Foreign affairs will summon Ukraine's ambassador in Paris over the recent violence in Kiev, said Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.
"I have given instructions to the Foreign Ministry to summon the Ukrainian ambassador in France today, which is a gesture to show France's condemnation [of the situation]," Fabius said on i>TELE television.
Fifty-eight people have been arrested in the central Ukrainian town of Cherkassy after the attempt to seize the local state administration building, according to the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ City Department.
On Thursday nearly 5,000 demonstrators broke a police cordon outside the local administration building, using stones and fireworks.
Rioters also have violently attacked local administration buildings in other regions of the Ukraine, including the western cities of Lvov, Zhitomir, Rovno, Ternopol.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Vitaly Zakharchenko urged the protesters to leave the area of Grushevskogo Street and promised not to prosecute the activists if they leave “the dangerous territory,” reports Itar-Tass.
“Police won’t attempt to clear the Independence Square [Maidan],” he said, calling upon his police colleagues not to react to provocations.
Law enforcement agencies of the Lvov Region started a pre-trial investigation over the case of the seizure of the local state administration building, reports the regional prosecutor’s office. The criminal offence may attract from three to six years in prison, it adds.
On Thursday, around 2,000 citizens of Lvov blocked the area outside of administration office. The crowd was demanding an audience with the regional head, Oleg Salo.
Lvov is not the only Ukrainian city where the protesters tried or managed to seize the buildings of the local administration.
A group of several hundred anti-government demonstrators in the central Ukrainian town of Cherkassy broke a police cordon outside the local administration building on Thursday, breaking the glass on the front door.
Also on Thursday, in another Ukrainian city, Rovno, several hundred residents took over a regional administration building and demanded to meet with the authorities.
The EU is ready to facilitate dialogue between the government and the opposition in Ukraine by sending European Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Fule and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton for talks, Commission representative Olivier Bailly said in a briefing.
During a telephone call, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich assured European Commission President Jose Manuel Durao Barroso that he wanted a peaceful settlement of the situation, Unian news agency reported.
After consultations with the opposition leaders, protesters began building new barricades by the "Khreschatyk" metro exit on Independence Square. Yatsenyuk and Tyagnibok are taking part in the process.
23 January 2014
On Thursday, Kiev authorities said that more than 100 people were detained following mass riots in the city.
Ukrainian opposition and the government have agreed to end the violent standoff and release arrested protesters, Klitschko told protesters on Grushevskogo Street.
Opposition leader Oleg Tyagnibok announced that "we pronounce ceasefire until morning," RT's Alexey Yaroshevsky reports from Kiev.
The crowd is chanting “Liars!” as opposition leaders speak to them after hours of talks with the government. They also urged Udar Party leader Vitaly Klitscho to take to the barricades.
Klitschko: "the whole process is prolonging, this is only the 1st round of negotiations. We wont stop until president steps down"
— Alexey Yaroshevsky (@Yaro_RT) January 23, 2014
Klitschko: "we have agreement that all police violence towards people stops today, all detained will be released" People are booing
— Alexey Yaroshevsky (@Yaro_RT) January 23, 2014
Yatsenyuk says they "had positive talks with the President". Tyagnibok "results of the talks must be consulted with Euromaidan"
— Alexey Yaroshevsky (@Yaro_RT) January 23, 2014
Talks between President Viktor Yanukovich and three main opposition leaders have ended. Rioters have once again started burning tires in Kiev.
US Vice President Joe Biden has warned Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich that failing to de-escalate tensions in Kiev could have “consequences.”
"The Vice President underscored that only the government of Ukraine can ensure a peaceful end to the crisis and further bloodshed would have consequences for Ukraine's relationship with the United States," the White House said.
PHOTO: #Ukraine clergymen stand in front of police blockade saying prayers & holding crosses http://t.co/333fneLosapic.twitter.com/jiZ5U93hGw
— RT (@RT_com) January 23, 2014
A group of several hundred anti-government demonstrators in the central Ukrainian town of Cherkassy broke a police cordon outside the local administration building, and broke the glass on the front door.
One official offered his resignation, but later withdrew, saying he was forced to sign his notice under pressure.
Demonstrators are demanding the resignation of regional governor Sergey Tulub.
The White House has reiterated its threat to impose sanctions on Ukraine.
During a media briefing White House spokesman Jay Carney chided the Ukrainian authorities for failing to respond to "legitimate" grievances of the opposition, and for imposing draconian anti-protest legislation last week.
The US embassy in Kiev has already stripped several officials implicated in the violence in Kiev of US visas.
The ceasefire called for the duration of the negotiations between officials and opposition leaders expired at 1800 GMT, though the politicians are still talking behind closed doors. So far there has been no violence; Klitschko implored his supporters to refrain from aggressive moves before the end of the talks.
President Viktor Yanukovich is meeting with three main opposition leaders, including Viktor Klitschko, in a government building in Kiev. The highly-anticipated negotiations were postponed throughout the day.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Nickolay Azarov says his embattled government will step down, but only if the parliament votes for such an outcome.
“The question of the government’s resignation is the prerogative of the parliament. If such an initiative gathers enough votes, we will do so. I have said before that this is a legal possibility,” Azarov told journalists at the Davos Economic Forum.
The resignation of the cabinet has been one of the main demands of the opposition, but the pro-government coalition holds a narrow majority in the Rada, the country’s legislative assembly.
Azarov also insisted that he has no plans to introduce a state of emergency in the wake of the violent protests in Kiev, but warned that it was the government’s “constitutional right and obligation to restore order in the country”.
"People should not think that the government lacks available resources to put an end to this,” he said.
Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovich, has demanded the immediate release of all the journalists detained during riots in Kiev.
“Journalists perform their professional duties and by force of circumstances find themselves in all sorts of situations. I’m asking everybody to acknowledge that fact and if possible assist the journalists in their work,” Yanukovich said, as cited by the ITAR-TASS news agency.
Russian journalist, Andrey Kiselev, who was detained earlier on Tuesday together with a group of protesters, has already been released by the police.
Lenta.ru website said its employee was injured during the arrest, and no charges were brought against him.
The extraordinary session of the upper house of the Ukrainian parliament is set to be held on Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. local time, a statement on the official website of the Ukrainian parliament reads.
Several hundred residents in the Western Ukrainian city of Rovno have taken over a regional administration building and demanded to meet with the authorities, Interfax News agency cites local media as reporting.
According to the information, the activists smashed out windows and broke down the doors before entering the hall for the regional administration while singing the Ukrainian national anthem.
Apart from those who entered the building, thousands of other residents have descended on the building, according to local media reports.
Smoke rises from behind a makeshift barricade as the opposition continues to hold their ground amidst a temporary ceasefire which has brought relative calm to the Ukrainian capital, RT's Alexey Yaroshevsky reports live from the scene.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych told EU Commissioner Jose Manuel Barroso by phone that an extraordinary session of the upper house of the Ukrainian parliament would be held to find a peaceful settlement to violent political conflict currently gripping the country.
“Viktor Yanukovych informed Jose Manuel Barroso about a conversation he held with the Chairman of the upper house of the Ukrainian parliament Vladimir Rybak. According to the President, in the coming days an extraordinary session of parliament will be held in Ukraine, which will address all the issues raised in the course of negotiations for a peaceful settlement of the conflict," - the press service of the Ukrainian state said in a statement, Interfax news agency reports.
The Ukrainian president reassured the EU Commissioner there was no divergence of opinion in the government regarding the need for a peaceful resolution of the ongoing conflict.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich has called a special session of parliament next week to discuss the current unrest that has spiraled out of control in recent days, leaving at least two people dead and the capital Kiev a veritable warzone.
Yanukovich made no indication that he was preparing to make concessions to the opposition, which has demanded snap elections and a repeal of a recently passed anti-protest law which threatened hefty prison sentences for those blocking government buildings or wearing masks during demonstrations.
Opposition leaders have demanded that the president should make concessions by Thursday evening or face renewed street battles.
Recent deaths of protesters in Kiev might have been staged, Sergey Burlakov, press-secretary of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs said in an interview to the 112 Ukrainian channel.
“We officially confirm that 2 deaths [an Armenian national from Dnepropetrovsk, Sergey Nigoyan, and Belarus citizen, Mikhail Zhiznevsky] have been recorded. The information came from the participants in the clashes on Grushevskogo Street. One man [Zhiznevsky, who was injured but still alive] was transported first to the Labor Union House, then to another building. In the end he died,” he says.
That’s why we urge people to come forward in order to find out the real reason [of the men’s death], adds Burlakov.
At this point, the investigation has found out that in both [death] cases firearms were used. However, it wasn’t a service gun according to preliminary investigation. The officers don’t use them [service guns] during their duties, he maintains.
Special forces have only the “resources for using rubber bullets,” stun grenades and gas grenades, which is allowed according to the law, he adds.
Burlakov also denied any presence of snipers, saying that photos that have appeared [in the media] might have been concocted in Photoshop.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Nickolay Azarov said snap presidential elections in Ukraine would currently be untenable, he told journalists in the Swiss city of Davos on Thursday, Itar Tass news agency reports.
“In accordance with the constitution, in a year, more or less, scheduled elections are set to take place,” he said. "How do you think under these conditions we could hold elections, when the center of Kiev is practically a war zone. What kind of election [could you hold] amidst this disorder.”
Azarov said the situation in the country would have to be normalized and everyday life needed to return to normal before they could start talk about anything else.
The Ukrainian PM added that those fighting against the government are militants, and not the opposition.
Around 2,000 citizens of Lvov have gathered outside the area administration office, the building has been blocked off to anyone coming from the outside apart from the disgruntled crowd, some of which is inside, demanding an audience with the regional head, Oleg Salo, RIA Novosti reports.
It is not clear when Salo will meet with the picketers, but it is known that he is in Lvov at this point.
European Union foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, is to travel to Kiev next week, says official EC representative Olivier Bailly, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy, Stefan Fuele, will also go in the Ukrainian capital on Friday, confirmed Bailly, adding that Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich told Barroso they [Ashton and Fuele] “would be welcome in Kiev to help this process that he is committed to and ready to have a political dialogue in his country."
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in a phone call warned Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich about “possible EU actions” against Kiev “if the situation in Ukraine deteriorates further,” says the official EC representative, Olivier Bailly.
According to Bailly, Barroso called on [the Ukrainian government] to engage in genuine dialogue with the opposition.
"The use of force is obviously, for the Commission, not the answer to the political situation. Mr. Barroso also urged President Yanukovich to have a top level dialogue with the opposition immediately," said Bailly.
Yanukovich told Barroso during the call "that it was not foreseen to install a state of emergency in Ukraine," Bailly added.
Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev has postponed his planned visit to Ukraine in May 2014 “over violations of human rights and political instability in the country,” the press secretary of the presidential institution announced, reports the Sofia globe.
“The president is deeply concerned by the escalation of tensions in Ukraine which has resulted in the deaths of civilians and expressed his sincerest condolences to the families of those who have died,” Plevneliev’s office said.
“The Republic of Bulgaria has always supported the European development of Ukraine and despite the decision of the Ukrainian authorities to postpone signing the Association Agreement being disappointing for both our country and the EU, the door of the European Union is still open for a democratic Ukraine which observes human rights,” stressed the statement.
My russian colleague from @lentaruofficial Andrey Kisilev was detained and beaten up by police in Kiev http://t.co/9dtNX0Mh5d
— Alexey Yaroshevsky (@Yaro_RT) January 23, 2014
Eighteen people have been arrested for attacks on Berkut troop buses, reports the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs. During the attack, one of the Berkut officers broke his leg.
According to the ministry, the men were armed with baseball-bats. They [the attackers] could face up to six years in prison.
The Armenian community has promised $100,000 for the head of the person who killed Sergey Nigoyan. Leaflets with a photo of the Armenian national from Dnepropetrovsk, who was allegedly killed by a sniper during the clashes on Wednesday, have been spotted in the Ukrainian capital.
A ‘quiet period’ has been negotiated between police and opposition activists until 8pm local time (18:00 GMT), says opposition leader Vitaly Klitschko. He said he will arrive in Grushevskogo Street by the end of the ceasefire to report to the protesters on the meeting he and other opposition leaders are to have with President Viktor Yanukovich.
Eyewitnesses report that the radical activists indeed stopped pelting police cordon with stones and firecrackers, which they did for hours. Footage from the scene shows white steam clouds rising from where barricades of tires were previously burning.
Klitschko said police will not use stun grenades during the truce.
The meeting with the president will focus on the opposition’s demands to cancel a package of laws, which they see as dictatorial and draconian, Klitschko said. He added he will be demanding resignation of the cabinet of ministers and conduction early presidential election.
“The chances are small, but they exist,” he said.
The previous round of negotiations on Wednesday failed to produce any tangible results. Opposition threatened “to go on the offensive” after it, while the government recommended them “to be more modest in ultimatums.”
Protesters remain camped out on Grushevskogo Street, which abuts the Cabinet office and parliament where a strong police perimeter has been set up in anticipation of further violence. The smoldering remains of burnt articles continue to pump white smoke into the air, a sharp contrast to the black pillars of smoke which filled the sky from burning piles of tires strewn throughout the city street's on Wednesday. Protesters, many clad in masks, remain firmly entrenched in their makeshift camp not far from a 13-meter-high colonnade of a Kiev stadium. Many armed with broken pieces of masonry, Molotov cocktails and other improvised weapons are standing idly by, though tensions from Wednesday’s chaotic riot continue to blanket the city.
The majority of the population in Ukraine does not support extremists calls for an armed uprising, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has claimed.
"We clearly say: Any unconstitutional actions in the capital should be discontinued. Calls for an armed uprising are absolutely unconstitutional and lead to bloodshed. They [calls] come from a very narrow circle of extremists and are not supported by an absolute majority of the population of Ukraine," the Prime Minister said on Thursday in Davos, during a meeting with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjorn Jagland.
The Prime Minister noted that the Ukrainian government is making every effort to resolve the situation peacefully, but pointed out that there are some "basic requirements" opposition members should meet to reach a compromise.
Radical protesters launch a fresh, if not particularly intensive attack on the police lines. Footage from central Kiev shows a dozen activists shooting firecrackers and throwing stones from amid a loose crowd of about a hundred of people.
The recent situation in Kiev won’t change the plans about delivering the Gifts of the Magi (the Three Wise Men) in Kiev, says Archpriest Viktor Ivaschuk from Kiev Eparchy.
“The Gifts of the Magi will be delivered from Minsk [Belarus] to Kiev on Friday, January 24,” he adds.
The hope that one of the biggest Christian relics will help to settle recent conflict in Kiev was expressed by Archpriest Georgy Kovalenko from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchy.
The Gifts of the Magi have already gathered tens of thousands believers in Russia and Belarus.
Eleven more radical activists suspected of involvement in mass riots have been arrested by Kiev courts, the Kiev Prosecutor’s Office reported. Five others have been put under house arrest. A total 26 people have been arrested in connection with the riots so far.
A director of Lenta.doc, a media off-shoot of the Moscow-based news website Lenta.ru, has been detained in Kiev. Andrey Kiselyov was spotlighting recent protests on Thursday morning, when Ukrainian riot police took him into custody, Lenta.doc founder Aleksandr Rastorguev reported. Rastorguev says his colleague was beaten by the police.
At least three journalists have been detained and 35 injured in Kiev clashes on Sunday and Monday, according to Reporters Without Borders, a freedom of press advocacy organization.
Building No. 4 on Grushevskogo Street again caught fire from the burning tires just a few hours after fire brigades contained and stopped a blaze on the building. Firefighters are trying to extinguish the renewed blaze as thick smoke spews from the building’s windows.
Meanwhile radical protesters nearby stopped throwing Molotov cocktails at police and ceased drumming on burnt vehicles and empty barrels.
The leader of the opposition Udar (Strike) party Vitaly Klitschko should be “more modest in his ultimatums,” Ukraine's Prime Minister, Nikolay Azarov said in an interview to BBC channel.
“We know the level of support for opposition leaders. We have a democratically-elected president and many people support him. We can see it by mass [pro-government] demonstrations in Kiev and other [Ukrainian] regions,” he explained.
He added that his government is ready for a dialogue with the opposition and that both the opposition and the government are obliged to stop the bloodshed.
Russia is outraged with the foreign interference into Ukraine’s internal affairs, said Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for President Putin. Moscow, on the contrary, is keeping its distance from the developing crisis.
“We cannot comprehend why foreign ambassadors in Kiev dictate what the Ukrainian authorities should do, where they should pull out troops from, where they should pull out police from,” he told Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper.
Peskov said that Moscow is closely observing the events in Ukraine and remains convinced that the Ukrainian government knows what it is doing.
“We don’t feel the justification to interfere with the internal affairs of our brother nation Ukraine. It is unacceptable. Russia didn’t do it and will not do it,” he stressed.
Police attempted to dismantle some of the barricades set up by rioters on Grushevskogo Street, but had to retreat after a radical wing of the opposition began throwing rocks at authorities, according to Espreso.tv.
Ukrainian ruling Party of Regions MP Eugene Balitskiy said the opposition has no control over what is happening on Independence Square. He noted that the opposition is refusing to take responsibility for those who reportedly died during the riots, Interfax reported.
Balitskiy also said he believes that "the opposition followed the footsteps of bloody scenarios of Syria and other Arab countries."
Fire brigades contained and stopped a blaze which started when fire spread from tires to the building No. 4 on Grushevskogo Street. Rioters are burning tires in central Kiev as part of their confrontation with police. The burning tires are difficult to doze out in the chaotic situation.
22 January 2014
The chairman of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkgalter, expressed deep concern over the violence in Ukraine and proposed to act as an intermediary in negotiations between all parties involved. “The OSCE has the necessary tools and the mechanisms to act as an impartial broker in such situations, and it is ready to support the Ukrainian authorities in order to lower tensions and prevent further escalation,” a statement on the OSCE website reads.
A few thousand demonstrators have surrounded the US embassy in Kiev to protest US involvement in Ukraine’s internal affairs, TSN news channel reported.
The organizer of the event is a new activist group called ‘Kievans for Clean City,’ which has spoken out against the rioters in downtown Kiev.
The US Embassy in #Kyiv is surrounded - #Euromaidan#Євромайдан - pic.twitter.com/OpVvZrvWCl
— Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) January 22, 2014
At least 42 journalists have been injured over the past three days at the hands of law enforcement officers on Hrushevskogo Street, Ukraine’s Institute of Mass Media reported.
Former Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk is grateful for the patience of both police officers and the Berkut unit while confronting rioters on Grushevskogo Street.
“I am grateful to the guys and Berkut, who are standing there now. I do not condone nor approve of the fact that they cleared out the students on November 30, although the right thing to do would be to criticize the person who gave out the order. Now they are going through an incredible challenge: being beaten up, having stones and burning mixtures thrown at them, and they stand there and endure. Not a lot of countries have military who would tolerate such a treatment in a similar situation,” Kravchuk said in his own article on Forbes.
Rioters continue to burn tires on Grushevskogo Street, with building No. 4 catching fire from the high flames, Union news agency quoted the Ministry of Internal Affairs as saying.
Ukraine's Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov said police were not given any additional instructions on the use of force against the protesters. Conversely, procedures now in place ensure the minimal use of force against only the most violent rioters. "Instructions given to law enforcement authorities were simple: avoid the use of force against peaceful demonstrators, and prevent violent seizure of government buildings and institutions,” Azarov said in the BBC interview.
Around 20 people attacked a TV station 'Kiev' in the center of the capital on Wednesday evening, Unian news agency reported. The rioters broke into the building and began destroying the office, according to witnesses.
Watch Ruptly's recent footage of Kiev rioters fan the flames of protest.
The leader of the opposition Udar Party, Vitaly Klitschko, said the second part of negotiations with the government will take place tomorrow. During a speech at Independence Square, he urged protesters to come out on Thursday around 12 p.m. local time to peacefully protest.
More than 70 people have been detained during the riots in Kiev, Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said on Wednesday.
Demonstrators on Independence Square are strengthening barricades using pavestones, Russian news agency RIA reports.
Activists are not allowing women and children to pass through to the main police conflict flashpoint on Gruschevkogo street, and asking the men to bring materials to help prop up the barriers.
“Please help those on the frontline, or if you don’t want to, stay at home and watch TV!” one activist was reported as shouting to the demonstrators.
Rioters have wrecked a car and brought it to the Hrushevskogo street to reinforce yet another barricade http://t.co/XRb96uGoNj
— Alexey Yaroshevsky (@Yaro_RT) January 22, 2014
More than twenty masked men burst into the studios of the local Kiev channel on Kreschatik street near the heart of the protests, according to municipal authorities.
Local police say the intruders broke down the doors, ransacked the studios and then disappeared carrying equipment and furniture.
An investigation has been opened.
Ukraine opposition leaders have threatened to “go on the offensive” if President Viktor Yanukovich “does not respond” to their demands.
"Tomorrow if the president does not respond ... then we will go on the offensive," Vitaly Klitschko, one of the leaders, declared.
He has called on the people to stay and defend the square and prepare for a police offensive against them.
"Today they (the police) are preparing to clear us out of the 'Maidan' (Independence Square)," he said. "We must do all we can to stop them clearing us out."
Local traffic police are blocking major streets in downtown Kiev, saying this is to clear them of snow. However, protesters believe police are preparing to storm the rioters.
Opposition leaders have called on President Yanukovich to hold an emergency meeting of the Ukrainian parliament – the Verkhovna Rada - to cancel the laws imposed on January 16, the opposition Fatherland party leader said. Yanukovich offered to “continue talks regarding the laws tomorrow,” stated Arseny Yatsenuk, a deputy in Ukraine’s parliament.
Klitschko: "no agreement on early ballot, no agreement on government stepping down, no agreement on abolishing the anti-riot laws"
— Alexey Yaroshevsky (@Yaro_RT) January 22, 2014
Police are withholding information about five alleged deaths in the rioting in central Kiev. “There are two cases we confirm,” the press-office confirmed to RIA Novosti. The investigation of those deaths is now ongoing, police stressed.
Police are using water cannons to extinguish burning tires as protesters continue to throw debris and inflammable projectiles.
A medical services coordinator in the protests, Oleg Musiy, has told local media the number of killed in the riots has reached five people. He has blamed the deaths on Berkut special police forces, who, Musiy claims, did not allow emergency medical services to reach the wounded. He says the number of injured is 300 people.
President Yanukovych and opposition leaders have held the “first stage” of negotiations amid violent clashes between protesters and riot police. The meeting lasted for more than three hours. Yanukovych’s office declined to provide additional details.
Activists also remain encamped at Independence Square, Maidan, where protests seem to be peaceful for now. According to journalists’ estimate there are between 8,000 or 10, 000 people there.
Poland's foreign ministry has voiced its "deep concern" about a crackdown on anti-government protests in Kiev when it summoned the Ukrainian ambassador in Warsaw. Poland said it was worried by the new laws restricting protests in Ukraine and suggested the recent violence might be linked to the new restrictions, the statement by secretary of state at the ministry, Katarzyna Pelczynska-Nalecz, said.
Opposition leaders have left the presidential administration building after meeting with Yanukovich. However, they declined to comment, the pro-opposition Ukrainska Pravda online newspaper posted on its Twitter page.
PHOTO: #Ukraine's president met with opposition leaders as #Kiev engulfed in protests http://t.co/O42IFflQVnpic.twitter.com/mYLlyxMx2c
— RT (@RT_com) January 22, 2014
Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice has expressed concerns over foreign diplomats visiting administrative buildings seized by the opposition. That is where “militants that are preparing Molotov cocktails,” Justice Minister Elena Lukash said, calling for European countries to condemn the violence committed by protesters in Kiev.
The Ukrainian army will not be deployed to “take part” in the “events, connected to the protest in Kiev,” the Ministry of Defense told the Interfax news agency.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt says he does not see signs that the "regime" in Kiev is ready to sit down with the opposition. "It is extremely serious. There is no question that the responsibility lies with the regime. The regime has a responsibility to sit down with the opposition, but unfortunately I don't see any sign of them doing it," Bildt said.
When asked about the EU response to Ukraine violence, he replied: "It remains to be seen but certainly not business as usual after this."
The Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations have called for an end to bloodshed in the country, harshly condemning the killing of innocent civilians. The Council requested an urgent meeting with both the president and opposition leaders.
Heavy smoke from burning tires has forced Berkut special police forces to retreat.
Medics have extracted the bullets from the bodies of the two dead men. It has been established that one of the victims was killed by a shot from a sniper rifle with a 7.62 mm caliber bullet. The second man was mortally wounded by a 9 mm bullet, apparently from a Makarov pistol, local espreso.tv said.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich has been negotiating with opposition leaders and a working group for 2.5 hours. No details have emerged from the ongoing meeting.
A 22-year-old man, who earlier was proclaimed dead after falling from a 13-meter-high colonnade in front of Dynamo Stadium, is alive, doctors from a local hospital have said as cited by espreso.tv. The "radical activists", as called by police, used the vantage point in Grushchevskovo Street to bombard riot police with petrol bombs and stones.
Police have warned civilians that "radicals" might use firearms and urged them to avoid the protests.
Around 10 people have been arrested on suspicion of “using weapons, baseball bats, curbstones and Molotov cocktails, thus putting the lives of many people in danger,” the local prosecutor’s office spokeswoman said. An arrest application for another 16 activists has been submitted.
now. #Євромайдан#Евромайдан#Euromaidanpic.twitter.com/EXR9bMg640
— ЄВРОМАЙДАН (@euromaidan) January 22, 2014
Info from several sources that final police assault will commence at 16-00 local time (in half-hour). Special dispersal means to be used
— Alexey Yaroshevsky (@Yaro_RT) January 22, 2014
Local law-enforcement bodies have received permission to restrict the movement of vehicles as well as temporarily prevent citizens' access to particular areas in the city.
Women and children were being discouraged from visiting the rally by its organizers. Aleksandr Turchninov, the coordinator of the opposition cabinet, has made a statement, RIA Novosti.
RT’s Peter Oliver has been caught in the crowd as police began clearing the scene of the mass protest in central Kiev, forcing people to run away helter-skelter. Peter managed to hide inside a nearby hotel from where he saw the police’s brutal actions. An RT camera caught the moment of a police officer severely beating one the protesters lying on the ground.
Offices, banks, schools close massively amid warnings of crackdown by 4pm, in 1,5h #Ukraine#євромайдан#euromaidan
— Olga Tokariuk (@olgatokariuk) January 22, 2014
Interfax reports the police has been given the green light to use water cannons in freezing temperatures. There was previously a ban.
Temperatures currently fall to -9 during the day and -11 Celsius at night (around 10-14 Fahrenheit).
"Water cannons are used by the police for the dispersal of rioting masses and against mass transgressions... to protect against attacks on buildings and other structures, as well as on transportation, and for the defense of civilians, self-defense, and against other actions endangering people's lives and livelihoods."
Dramatic live images being seen in these shots, as protesters set up a wall of fire. RT's RUPTLEY live feed is below with the latest.
Kharkov is to become the scene of a rally in support of President Yanukovich, Interfax-Ukraine says. Several thousand people will take part in protesting against the deteriorating situation in the country at Freedom Square in the city. Buses have been transporting people to the location.
A criminal investigation for murder in the first degree has been launched with regard to two earlier protester deaths, the Interior Ministry told ITAR-TASS.
Armored personnel carriers (APC) are now seen roaming central Kiev.
#UKRAINE PHOTO: APCs spotted on streets of #Kiev - LIVE UPDATES: http://t.co/O42IFflQVnpic.twitter.com/zb6yd00LOA
— RT (@RT_com) January 22, 2014
It has now been ascertained that one of the victims of the violence is an Armenian. The confirmation comes from the country's foreign ministry, Interfax says.
"The Armenian embassy in Ukraine has confirmed reports that the person who had died in Kiev, one Sergey Nigoyan, is an Armenian national"
RT's Alexey Yaroshevsky is reporting that it is getting harder to breathe because of all the smoke that is rising as the rioting crowd sets fire to tires underneath the 'Dinamo' soccer stadium
His latest tweets can be found here.
"We saw less than an hour ago the second attempt by the police to push the rioters off... set up a barricade, then the police came back again," Alexey explains, adding that "it's a stalemate... the situation has been very tense so far..." Given that it is Unity Day today and the opposition has "called on hundreds of thousands to take to the streets, it's very hard to say where the march may end up. So we are in a hotbed of tension that looks like a war zone here in central Kiev."
Kiev now. Warzone pic.twitter.com/HKCBC7695a
— Alexey Yaroshevsky (@Yaro_RT) January 22, 2014
The president’s meeting with the opposition has been agreed for 11:45 GMT (15:45 Moscow time), according to Arseniy Yacenyuk’s Twitter account. “The three of us are due to meet Yanukovich. I confirm can confirm it.”
Although initial police action has broken up the protesters' ranks for the time being, they refuse to leave the square. Flash grenades are being heard and smoke now rises up from multiple occasions. This is the scene now.
The scene grows tenser as individual gunshots are ringing out. The rioting crowd appears to be more decentralized after the latest police onslaught.
As the situation on the street is becoming more volatile by the minute, President Yanukovich has appealed to the protesters to sit down for concrete talks and put an end to the violence, RIA Novosti reports.
The president has also asked peaceful citizens not to give in to the pressure of the opposition, believing that the situation can still be resolved by peaceful means.
"I once again implore the opposition to sit down for talks and end the violence. I ask that the citizens return to their homes. We must return peace, calm and stability to Ukraine."
The president feels the loss of life sustained so far is a tragic occurrence and a result of concerted political efforts at destabilization.
Smoke from flash grenades are being seen and rubber bullets appear to be used presently as protesters refuse to dissipate.
The onslaught by the police is ongoing as embattled rioters are banging on their shields and barricades are being taken apart by force.
Watch RT's live HD stream of the events, as there are now fresh reports that the police has broken the protesters' barricades in the latest offensive on their lines.
The police has reportedly started to push back against the protesters, trying to dismantle their defenses. A fresh offensive is being prepared at the moment.
RT's Alexey Yaroshevsky is on the scene witnessing the protesters carrying one of their deceased.
Information that over 1400 people had last night needed urgent medical attention has turned out to be unsubstantiated, especially the part about 80 percent having gunshot wounds, Kiev's health department reported.
Such information is "absolutely false and is aimed at seeding panic among the civilians." The true figure, according to authorities, is closer to 122 protesters over the course of the afternoon of the 19th and until the morning of the 21st of January.
The department's head also strongly criticized the notion that anti-government protesters in need of urgent medical help were being driven off to police stations, instead of hospitals.
The Ukrainian general prosecutor has confirmed the death of a third protester, information earlier circulated by activists. The body was riddled with gunshot wounds. About an hour prior to the report, the news had been circulated by a local TV station, who said the unidentified man of around 40 years of age had reportedly died during a police storm.
The city of Lvov has dispatched new 'defense brigades' to Kiev to assist the activists there, Interfax reports. The idea is a result of the latest developments there. Activists say they want to keep the police from "unlawfully" targeting them.
Another protester has reportedly lost their life, according to medics working with the protesters. This brings the reported death toll in Kiev's unrest up to three.
RT video agency RUPTLY is on the scene, streaming live in HD.
A local live stream of the Euromaidan chaos continuing into the afternoon of the fourth day. The police appear to be holding their defense line, as it continues to be pelted with stones and other things.
Ukraine is concerned that foreign diplomats are touring the governmental buildings held by protesters, Justice Minister Elena Lukash said. She alleged that “militants are cooking incendiaries” in those buildings.
Deputy Interior Minister Viktor Ratushnyak called on foreign diplomats, who have contacts with the opposition, to convince them to turn over those among their ranks, who have been involved in crimes.
“We have on many occasions told representatives of the opposition, requested them to hand over those militants to police, but they ignored our calls,” he said.
Police confirm that a demonstrator died from a gunshot in Kiev overnight, spokesman Sergey Burlakov said. He added that police was not involved in the killing. “Law enforcement do not carry firearms there,” he said.
There are serious violations of law on the part of the radical protesters, and “authorities will not tolerate it without a relevant lawful reaction,” Ukrainian Interior Minister Leonid Kozhara said. He added that the government wants to resolve the conflict in a peaceful way.
The standoff continues in Grushevskogo Street. Police are holding their lines, to which they retreated after dismantling a barricade, while protesters are gathering about 100 meters from them past a line of damaged buses. No active clashes are currently underway.
Police are using loudspeakers to call on protesters to leave and not confront the officers, footage from the scene showed. The activists respond with defiant shouting and loud banging on barrels and damaged vehicles.
Ambulances are arriving at the scene of latest scuffles between riot police and radical protesters in Khrushchevskovo Street. It appears that security forces have launched a planned operation to disperse the protesters.
Riot police advanced to barricades erected by the rioters and started dismantling them, reports Interfax. The protesters responded with an intensified barrage of stones and Molotov cocktails. This briefly disrupted the police advancement, which resumed minutes later.
Police are using stun grenades and tear gas to fend off the rioters. There are reports of several activists being detained.
A second fatality at Grushevskogo Street has been reported. The victim received a gunshot overnight and died early in the morning, a protester medic said.
It’s not clear why the protesters failed to take their wounded comrade to hospital, as the report implies, but they may have been concerned that he would be arrested.
Police have been called to a local building, where the body was being kept, and confirmed the death. However, they didn’t confirm how the person died. An investigation into the incident is underway.
Brussels has downgraded a Russia-EU summit, which will take place later this month, Russia’s envoy to the European Union said. Instead of the usual two-day format, the meeting will take on only one day, January 28, Vladimir Chizhov said.
Those who believe the decision was linked to the EU’s differences with Russia over the Ukrainian turmoil “are not really wrong,” he added.
The ongoing political crisis in Ukraine was triggered by its decision in November 2013 to postpone the signing of a key EU integration deal. While Kiev cited economic considerations, many European officials blamed Russia for putting pressure on Ukraine not to sign the association treaty. Moscow maintains that it only was frank in warning Ukraine that it would have to cancel trade preferences in order to protect its own economy once Ukraine had a free trade zone with the EU.
The opposition says a 22-year-old protester died in hospital after falling from a 13-meter-high column at Dynamo Stadium in on Grushevskogo Street, Segodnya website reported. The victim is said to be one of the rioters, who used the vantage point to bombard riot police with petrol bombs and stones. No official confirmation of the fatality was immediately available.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said Tuesday that the new national protest laws in Ukraine are a dramatic step away from democracy. "Such provisions will roll back the enjoyment of human rights for the people of Ukraine, stifle debate and dissent, and jeopardize the democratic achievements of the past two decades," she said in a statement.
Witnesses are reporting that buses are arriving around the outskirts of Kiev, while small groups of thugs are said to be forming downtown.
21 January 2014
Ukrainian authorities plan to restore peace to central Kiev by containing the rioters on Hrushevskogo street, Zerkalo Nedeli news website quoted a source within the Council of National Security and Defense as saying.
The operation plans to use 4,631 interior troops, 1,460 police officers, and 1,530 Berkut soldiers. The minimum goal of the operation is to establish full control over Grushevskogo Street. The maximum task is to clear Independence Square, according to the source.
Surreal scene at government quarter in Kiev. Molotovs thrown from one side, police reinforcing their ranks on the other, priests in-between
— Alexey Yaroshevsky (@Yaro_RT) January 21, 2014
Renewed clashes between police and rioters have begun on Grushevskogo Street in central Kiev, with protesters throwing Molotov cocktails at police officers. Gunfire has reportedly been heard.
Protesters in Kiev have launched a new website that helps demonstrators find transportation to Independence Square. The site, titled 'I Go to Maidan,' allows users to offer or ask for rides to downtown Kiev.
Protesters making molotov cocktails at the barricades in Kiev:
Missing opposition activist Igor Lutsenko has been found, RIA Novosti reports, citing the activist’s Facebook page.
According to messages on Lutsenko’s Facebook wall, he was kidnapped and left in a forest without a cell phone by unknown people. The messages say he is now “in a good mood and in awful shape.”
Earlier on Monday, Kiev police opened a criminal case into the disappearance of Lutsenko, UNIAN agency reports, citing the Ukrainian Interior Ministry.
Police have denied they detained Lutsenko after he brought another protester to a hospital. The statement comes after the opposition Batkivshchina (Fatherland) Party claimed that law enforcement was behind his “kidnapping.”
The police will apply force in accordance with the law if the violent riots continue in central Kiev, Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov told Russia 24 TV channel.
“If the provocateurs do not stop, the authorities will have no other choice but to apply force as provided for in the legislation. We are hoping for some common sense. The people must see for themselves that they are being offered chaos and destruction,” Azarov said.
The Prime Minister, however, ruled out the possibility of imposing a state of emergency in Kiev.
The Ukrainian government is calling on the leaders of the opposition to persuade those rioting in central Kiev to cease violent clashes with the police, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Andrey Kluyev, has said.
Negotiations with opposition parties are “practically impossible” while members of those parties are taking part in “extremist and aggressive actions against law enforcers,” Kluyev stressed.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Batkivshchina (Fatherland) Party, Arseny Yatsenyuk, demanded that the Ukrainian Prosecutor General ban the police from firing at the protesters.
Yatsenyuk and Oleg Tyagnibok of the Svoboda (Freedom) party met with the Prosecutor General, Viktor Pshonka, on Tuesday to discuss the situation in the capital.
“God forbid there is even one death. That would be the red line, after which we would never be able to return to peaceful ways,” Yatsenyuk told Pshonka, as quoted by the Batkivshchina Party press service.
Several thousand protesters and hundreds of cars are blocking several military installations in Western Ukraine, according to reports by the Ukrainian Interior Ministry.
In the city of Lvov, “about 200 cars and up to two thousand people, including masked radical youth,” are blocking a military unit. According to the ministry, the blockade is preventing the military from “guarding public order” in the city.
In Ivano-Frankovsk, the protesters have been blocking an Interior Troops department for the second day in a row.
The protesters believe their actions will prevent the dispatching of additional troops to Kiev.
Protesters have made barricades from burnt police vehicles, Aleksey Yaroshevsky reports from central Kiev.
The Ukrainian opposition and “representatives of a number of foreign states” are directly responsible for the ongoing riots in central Kiev, President Viktor Yanukovich’s aide, Andrey Portnov, has announced at a briefing of the task group on settling the political crisis in the country.
Although the opposition leaders have insisted the protest is peaceful, they now identify themselves with those responsible for blocking the government buildings and clashing with law enforcement officers, Portnov said.
Those international groups and foreign officials who “justify the unlawful actions of the rioters” also bear responsibility for the situation in Ukraine, the presidential aide stressed.
The controversial laws limiting mass demonstrations and toughening penalties for taking part in mass disorders will come into effect on Wednesday at midnight, according to Ukrainian Minister of Justice Elena Lukash.
At least 163 law enforcement officers have sought medical help and 80 of them have been hospitalized with injuries in the three days of riots in central Kiev, says the latest statement by the Ukrainian Interior Ministry.
The policemen suffered head injuries, fractures, burns, stab and slash wounds, as well as poisoning by “unknown substances,” the statement said.
The Ukrainian government will not impose a state of emergency in Ukraine in connection with the ongoing riots, the Secretary of National Security and Defense Council, Andrey Kluyev, has said.
Vitaly Klitschko, the leader of the opposition party UDAR, has withdrawn from the negotiation process, the Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Andrey Kluyev, has announced.
According to Kluyev, there was “no constructive dialogue” and Klitschko started by saying he is going to quit.
The official, however, called on the opposition leader to return to the negotiation table.
The EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy, Stefan Fule, will arrive in Kiev on Friday to meet the Ukrainian government and opposition to discuss the situation in the country, Fule’s spokesman, Peter Stano, told Interfax-Ukraine.
Opposition leader, Vitaly Klitschko, of the UDAR party said he has not met Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich because the president was busy holding a consultation meeting.
Klitschko left the meeting of the task group on settling the situation in the country after being told by presidential advisors that Yanukovich would “call” him as soon as he is free, UDAR’s press service reports.
The opposition leader then went back to the scene of the recent clashes in central Kiev.
Twenty-two of the 50 detained participants in the violent riots in central Kiev may be charged with criminal offences, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry press service said in a statement, confirming the detainees have been “notified of being under suspicion.”
13:06 GMT: The reason for violent clashes between protesters and police forces lies in the reluctance of the [Ukrainian] government to enter into dialogue with society, says the leader of the Batkivshchina (Fatherland) Party, Arseny Yatsenyuk, reports Interfax-Ukraine.
“People got the right to change peaceful protest into a violent one because “the voicelessness” of power and the [government’s] neglect of its people provoked what we have now in Kiev,” said Yatsenyuk in the National Resistance Headquarters.
The opposition made a list of strict requirements, according to him. Among them are the canceling of the January-16 bills, resignation of the government and the standing down of police forces and Berkut troops.
12:20 GMT: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay expressed her concern over the recent escalation of unrest in Ukraine, particularly in the wake of new legislation passed on January 16.
"I call on the authorities to suspend application of the laws to allow time for a thorough review of their content,” she says.
Pillay says she is “particularly concerned by the potential that these laws have to curtail the right to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, the right to information, the right of civil society to work freely.”
Nine controversial bills, which permit the arrest of protesters who wear masks or helmets and erect tents or stages without permission from the authorities, come into force on January 22.
11:48 GMT: Government supporters have gathered in Mariinsky park next to the Ukrainian Parliament in Kiev to hold a rally, reports Interfax-Ukraine. The venue for the protest, dubbed “Stop the coup d'état!”, is being guarded by police officers.
Over 3,000 protesters have gathered in Mariinsky park, according to the organizers of the rally, but police figures put it at 1,500.
11:23 GMT: The number of protesters injured in recent clashes in Kiev has reached 122 and 50 still remain in hospitals, reports Kiev City State Administration. On Tuesday 6 protesters from Grushevskogo Street sought medical help, 5 of them have been admitted to hospitals.
119 police officers have sought medical help after two days of clashes in the Ukrainian capital, 80 of them remain hospitalized.
10:28 GMT: The leader of the opposition Udar (Strike) party Vitaly Klitschko is to meet President Viktor Yanukovich for negotiations on Tuesday, reports Ukrainian TBi news channel.
“Viktor Yanukovich has promised me to settle the conflict but he didn’t. I will meet him to seek answers, including on the five demands of the opposition," said Klitschko.
09:58 GMT: Police forces have managed to dismantle a barricade and a catapult which was set up by protesters to hurl objects at police on Monday.
09:55 GMT: Hundreds of protesters have flooded the streets of Kiev. Many of them camped out overnight, despite low temperatures and the huge riot police presence. The protesters are now banging on lamp posts and oil drums on Grushevskovo Street as if making a call to battle.
08:51 GMT: Moscow is ready to be a mediator to settle the Ukrainian crisis only if Kiev asks it to, says Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a press conference.
“However I understand that our help is not needed as there is a direct contact between the [Ukrainian] president, government and opposition,” he adds.
08:39 GMT: The government in going to do its best to settle the conflict peacefully in Kiev, the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs said in the statement.
“The Ukrainian government plans to exercise maximum efforts to settle the conflict peacefully and [the government] hopes that international community will condemn the radical actions that provoke clashes and threaten life and health of citizens,” says the statement.
08:55 GMT: The center of Kiev is ravaged after a new wave of anti-governmental protests that took place in the Ukrainian capital overnight. After the clashes between opposition and police forces the streets remain in chaos. Overnight the protesters were throwing stones at police and banging on drums.
07:44 GMT: A pro-Western dictatorship in Ukraine is the aim of those fighting against police forces in Kiev, said the chairman of the State Duma's Foreign Affairs Committee, Alexey Pushkov.
“Those fighting for power in Kiev are not democrats, but trained and armed militants,” adds Pushkov.
07:32 GMT: Four priests from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church managed to stop clashes between protesters and police for a short time. They were standing and praying between opposition activists and police officers.
— U.REVOLUTION (@U__REVOLUTION) January 21, 2014
07:05 GMT: Nearly 32 people have been detained by police during riots in Kiev, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry reported. Twenty-two of them remain in police custody as law enforcers investigate the mass disorders. Thirteen of those 22 are suspected of committing criminal offences.
One hundred and nineteen police officers have sought medical help after two days of clashes in Kiev, 80 of whom remain in hospitals, the ministry added.
06:25 GMT: Nine controversial laws from January, 16, which some members of the Ukrainian opposition branded as a state coup, have been published in the parliamentary newspaper the Voice of Ukraine (Golos Ukraini). In Ukraine, a law comes into force the day after its publication in a newspaper.
06:20 GMT: Violence appears to be calming down in Kiev. Several hundred radical protesters are currently in the center of the city. But only a few dozen are still throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at riot police, who are responding with stun grenades and rubber bullets, Interfax-Ukraine reports.
Police seized and dismantled one of the barricades erected by the rioters, but did not launch any major offensive.
Elsewhere in Kiev opposition forces clashed with young people, who they believe to be ‘titushky’ - provocateurs allegedly hired by the government to wreak havoc and discredit the protest. The leader of the opposition Udar (Strike) party Vitaly Klitschko called upon Kievans citizens not to fall for provocations.
“With the titushky in the streets and no police at all, people should organize themselves to protect peace and security in the city,” Klitschko said in a statement.
01:12 GMT: Police just destroyed the catapult which was built earlier by protesters to hurl rocks at police, RT’s Alexey Yaroshevsky reported.
01:11: Police are trying to push protesters off the street in Ukraine’s capital as clashes enter the third day. Reports of police retaliating against Molotov cocktails with rubber bullets.
00:23 GMT: Large groups of people in sports outfits with clubs and baseball bats are descending on Independence Square, according to multiple twitter reports.
Monday, January 20
23:35 GMT: Protesters are pulling up to the governmental quarter in Kiev, fearing an assault by the police, RT’s Alexey Yaroshevsky reported.
Protesters lining up preparing for a possible assault by the police pic.twitter.com/QU0HoD9Si1
— Alexey Yaroshevsky (@Yaro_RT) January 20, 2014
22:48 GMT: Video footage by Ruplty news agency shows emergency services carrying Kiev's injured from the streets to the hospital.
22:47 GMT: Around 10,000 protesters are throwing Molotov cocktails and fireworks at police around the Dynamo Stadium in Kiev. Police have retreated 10 meters and are retaliating with tear gas and rubber bullets, according to Kyiv Post.
20:45 GMT: Around 90 EuroMaidan protesters demonstrate outside the London apartment of Ukraine's wealthiest billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, Kyiv Post reported. Demonstrators shouted "Akhmetov stop Yanukovych!" and "Akhmetov stop the bloodshed!”
20:44 GMT: Protesters launch rocks from the catapult that they built earlier, as police retaliate with flash grenades.
The catapult has even got its own Twitter account @ukr_catapult.
New clashes have broken out by the Dynamo Stadium in central Kiev, and police were stationed around the trees there.
Here's the gear of my cameraman with a pellet hole in it pic.twitter.com/M8qR1rdGHv
— Alexey Yaroshevsky (@Yaro_RT) January 20, 2014
19:04 GMT: At least 44 people have been taken to hospital with various injuries since Sunday, and a total number of 104 have been injured, Kiev mayor office administration reported. The figures are likely to increase as they did not include casualties from the latest clashes.
Wounded policemen have also been excluded from the count, with the latest estimate by Ukrainian Interior Ministry stating that 61 out of 100 injured law enforcers have been hospitalized since Sunday.
18:12 GMT: RT’s Alexey Yaroshevsky reports “unprecedented brutality from both sides” in Kiev. Following brutal beatings of police officers by the protesters, the clashes with law enforcers now leave more people injured.
Ruptly's crew filmed inside a temporary hospital at the Maidan. Some injured have open wounds with bones sticking out. Gruesome
— Alexey Yaroshevsky (@Yaro_RT) January 20, 2014
17:59 GMT: A rubber bullet hits a cameraman of Ukraine’s ICTV channel in the eye. Doctors at the scene say he might partially lose eyesight.
17:47 GMT:
One of our cameramen was saved by a plastic shield he wore on his back. It blocked a metal bullet fired by the police
— Alexey Yaroshevsky (@Yaro_RT) January 20, 2014
To clarify - our cameraman's back shield was hit with a rubber pellet in a metal casing, not a firearm bullet
— Alexey Yaroshevsky (@Yaro_RT) January 20, 2014
17:30 GMT: RT's Yaroshevsky reports that at least four injured people were carried on stretchers to ambulance cars in the last 15 minutes of clashes.
17:20 GMT: Representatives of the Ukrainian government and the opposition are holding a crisis meeting, seeking to end the political crisis in the country, local UNN agency reports citing Party of Regions’ MP Anna German.
17:15 GMT: Protesters test-fire the "anti-police" catapult, a projectile lands harmlessly less than 10 meters away, RT's Alexey Yaroshevsky reports.
Катапульта уже в ремонте #євромайданpic.twitter.com/JumAORhf7X
— Євромайдан (@Dbnmjr) January 20, 2014
16:29 GMT: Ukrainian police have used tear gas and stun grenades after pro-EU protesters began throwing Molotov cocktails at officers.
13:30 GMT: The Ukrainian Interior Ministry has condemned the “commandants of Maidan” – the deputies from the opposition representing the protesters rallying in central Independence Square – for providing rioters with “dangerous cold steel arms.”
The opposition deputies are handing aggressive protesters “two meter-long wooden sticks with sharp metal tips,” the ministry said. The improvised weapons are going to be used to harm law enforcement officers, it said.
The MPs are abusing their immunity for forming illegal armed units and inciting mass disorder, the ministry said.
#maidan#kiev#lesOpposants ont achevé la construction du #trébuchet et le chargent avec des pierres. #euromaidanpic.twitter.com/MNmlFtEHiB
— Alekséï Konovalov (@equitibus) January 20, 2014
13:00 GMT: Protesters in Kiev are setting up an improvised catapult, looking to fire projectiles at police cordons, RT's Alexey Yaroshevsky reports from the scene.
12:00 GMT: More than 100 people sought medical assistance after the first day of violence on Sunday, with 61 police officers injured during the riot. Over 30 people were detained.
Sunday, January 19
21:40 GMT: Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich ordered the country’s Security Council Secretary Andrey Klyuyev to create a working group tasked with resolving the political crisis in the country, Itar-Tass reports siting the press service of the Ukrainian president.
21:13 GMT: The US Embassy in Ukraine has called to end the ongoing violent confrontations between protestors and police in Kiev, urging a political dialogue.
"The United States Embassy calls for an end to ongoing violent confrontations between protestors and police in Kiev. We urge calm and call on all sides to cease any acts provoking or resulting in violence," the Embassy said in a statement posted on its website.
"We further urge the Government of Ukraine to immediately start negotiations with all sides to resolve the political standoff, address protestors' concerns, and prevent violence from spreading," the statement reads.
20:57 GMT: At least 5 buses and two police trucks are now ablaze in central Kiev as rioters throw Molotov cocktails. The burning vehicles are blocking the way of the demonstrators to the government and parliament buildings.
20:54 GMT: Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich has promised to establish a joint commission of the presidential administration, the government and the opposition, that will work to end the crisis in Ukraine, Vitaly Klitschko announced after the meeting with the president, Itar-Tass reports
20:42 GMT: The Interior Ministry denies deploying rubber bullets against the rioters, Itar – Tass reports.
20:33 GMT: At least 40 policemen have been injured in clashes in Kiev, Interior Ministry reports.
20:18 GMT: Opposition leaders Arseny Yatsenyuk and Alexander Turchinov urge the demonstrators to leave Grushevskogo Street and return to Maidan to protest peacefully, lenta.ru reports.
20:15 GMT: Top opposition figures are trying to distance themselves from the violence in the street using a “good cop bad cop” tactics, investigative journalist Neil Clark told RT. “If the opposition had the support which they claim to have then why don’t they simply wait for elections next February?” Clark wondered. “And the hypocrisy of the Western leaders about this is quite striking because Yanukovich was a democratically elected leader. And in a democracy if you want to remove the government then what you do is you try to persuade people to vote for you in free elections.”
20:00 GMT: Interior Ministry reports that over 70 law enforcement officers suffered injuries in clashes
19:12 GMT: Two journalists suffered from stun grenades in Kiev, Interfax reports.
18:56 GMT: Rubber bullets are reportedly being used by law enforcement to push back the rioters.
18:27 GMT: At least 30 policemen have been injured in clashes in Kiev, 4 of them in critical condition, Interior Ministry reports.
18:13 GMT: Police detained four active rioters, as reported by the "Comments" publication citing the Interior Ministry.
17:55 GMT: Police deny using water cannon against protesters. The Interior Ministry said that it was a fire hydrant.
17:49 GMT: Rioters have overturned and vandalized several parked cars.
17:40 GMT: EU Ambassador to Ukraine Ian Tombinsky urged the crowds in Kiev not to aggravate the situation. "We urge people not to exacerbate an already difficult and dangerous situation. The attack on the police may give rise to those who do not want a political solution of the crisis."
17:30 GMT: Molotov cocktails are seen being thrown at police lines as rioters continue to attack law enforcement in Maidan Square and Grushevskogo Street.
17:24 GMT: More than 20 law enforcement officers suffered injuries in clashes on Grushevskogo Street, interior Ministry reports. Ten people are hospitalized, four of them are in serious condition. Most suffered head injuries, fractures, bruises and "poisoning from unknown substances."
17:10 GMT: At least 20 policemen have been injured in clashes, the Interior Ministry reports.
16:56 GMT: Reporter from "Vesti" news says the radical opposition from the Maidan square are bringing axes to Grushevskogo Street and are preparing to attack the "Berkut" special forces cordon.
16:49 GMT: Doctors from Kiev’s hospitals are being called into Maidan to help the wounded, UNIAN reports.
16:40 GMT: Police use stun and gas grenades to push the protesters beyond the security cordon and from the roofs of buses.
Police bus set on fire in Kiev. Getting worse pic.twitter.com/hLDgH9T0aX
— Alexey Yaroshevsky (@Yaro_RT) January 19, 2014
16:26 GMT: Police open criminal proceedings into the riots taking place on Grushevsky Street, under Article 294 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, UNIAN reports.
16:24 GMT: Security forces are trying to defend themselves and disperse the crowd using tear gas
16:21 GMT: At another scene of the protest, on Grushevsky Street, around 500 protesters also clash with police. At the Dinamo Stadium, another bus is set on fire.
16:16 GMT: Water cannon have been deployed at the Maidan Square. Opposition activists have claimed police already used it to disperse the crowd.
16:08 GMT: Opposition leader Vitaly Klitschko stepped in to try and prevent the clashes, but was sprayed with powder from a fire extinguisher in the process. Photos on Twitter showed Klitschko, covered in foam, trying to calm down the crowd through a bullhorn.
Rioters are smashing police bus pic.twitter.com/1bCW0lDkiX via @euromaidan
— Alexey Yaroshevsky (@Yaro_RT) January 19, 2014
16:04 GMT: Opposition Arseny Yatsenyuk and Oleg Tyahnibok urge participants on Maidan not to succumb to provocations and remain on the Maidan and continue to protest peacefully. However, many protesters do not pay attention to these calls.
16:00 GMT: Rioters from the "right sector" (armed wing of the nationalist wing in Maidan) capture a Special Forces soldier from the "Berkut" detachment and are dragging him to face public trial on Maidan, Ukranian Insider publication reports.
14:30 GMT: Hundreds of Ukrainian protesters approach cordons of security forces surrounding government buildings and start throwing stones at the police, as at least 10,000 people are rallying on Kiev's central Independence Square at an anti-government demonstration.
Protesters wearing orange helmets and wielding sticks and flares clash with police and attempt to turn over a police bus. Police retaliates by throwing flash grenades from behind the cordon.
A police bus is set on fire by a petrol bomb as the cordon stands its ground and the opposition leaders urge the protesters to refrain from violence and stop provoking the law enforcers.