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Ukraine crisis: Deadly anti-autonomy protest outside parliament | Ukraine crisis: Deadly anti-autonomy protest outside parliament |
(about 1 hour later) | |
One national guard member has been killed and about 100 injured in violent protests outside Ukraine's parliament, the interior ministry said. | |
Clashes between nationalists and riot police erupted after MPs gave initial backing to reforms for more autonomy in the rebel-held east. | |
National guardsmen were pelted with fire crackers and petrol bombs as explosions were heard. | National guardsmen were pelted with fire crackers and petrol bombs as explosions were heard. |
The reforms are part of a peace plan to end fighting in eastern Ukraine. | |
Protesters led by the populist Radical Party and the ultra-nationalist Svoboda (Freedom) party - who fear the loss of the east to Russian-backed separatists - gathered outside parliament early on Monday. | |
After a rowdy debate, 265 MPs out of 450 backed the first reading of the decentralisation bill, granting more powers to areas of Donetsk and Luhansk. | |
Initially, there were only minor clashes but a BBC correspondent then heard small explosions followed by a much larger one - apparently from a grenade. | |
At the scene: Svyatoslav Khomenko, BBC News, Kiev | |
The demonstrators numbered barely more than a few dozen - mainly young men, most of them masked. They started the fights with police, but others supported them. | |
The protesters tried to pull the policemen away from their lines. They beat them and took their shields and helmets. Soon about a dozen young men were almost as well-equipped as the police. | |
Several times the atmosphere near the building seemed to calm down for a while, with clashes starting up again. And then the explosions began. | |
I saw some people - policemen and firemen - falling to the ground, and some running away from the site, limping. I saw pools of blood just near the wall of parliament. | |
Violent clashes outside Kiev's parliament | |
The Ukrainian Interior Minister, Arsen Avakov, said some 30 people have been detained, including a Svoboda member who confessed to throwing a grenade. | |
He bitterly criticised Svoboda leader Oleh Tyahnybok, writing on Facebook that several explosive devices had been thrown by people wearing Svoboda T-shirts. | |
A policeman's leg was torn off below the knee in the blast, Interfax Ukraine reported, while journalists at the scene were also reported injured. | |
Shaky peace | |
Almost 7,000 people have died since the conflict in eastern Ukraine broke out in March 2014, after Russia's annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. | Almost 7,000 people have died since the conflict in eastern Ukraine broke out in March 2014, after Russia's annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. |
Pushing through greater autonomy for the rebel-held areas is a key part of the Minsk peace deal, originally signed in February. | |
During the summer, fighting between Ukrainian army forces and the rebels has escalated. But the two sides agreed last week to halt the violence on 1 September, the day children in the region return to school. | |
Although the number of ceasefire violations appears to have fallen in recent days, OSCE monitors have warned that neither side was respecting the truce. | |
Under the draft constitutional changes going through parliament, there will be a special law covering local government in rebel-held areas. | |
However, parliament speaker Volodymyr Hroysman was adamant that would not mean special status for Donetsk and Luhansk, which rebel leaders have declared republics. | |
If President Petro Poroshenko is to succeed in pushing through the reforms, he will need the support of 300 MPs, seen as a tall order for the Ukrainian leader. | |
He is due to address the nation on the proposals and the violence outside parliament later on Monday. | |
Are you in the area? Did you witness the blast? You can email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with your story. | Are you in the area? Did you witness the blast? You can email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with your story. |
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways: | Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways: |
Or use the form below | Or use the form below |