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For the First Time, Ukraine Protests Lead to Deaths For the First Time, Ukraine Protests Lead to Deaths
(about 5 hours later)
KIEV, Ukraine — After two protesters were shot to death during clashes with the police on Wednesday, the first fatalities in Ukraine’s two-month civil uprising, President Viktor F. Yanukovich met with opposition leaders as efforts to defuse the crisis took on new urgency. KIEV, Ukraine — A deepening civil uprising in Ukraine turned deadly on Wednesday, and this embattled capital veered toward chaos, after at least three demonstrators died during clashes with the police and the first direct negotiations between President Viktor F. Yanukovich and opposition leaders yielded only threats and ultimatums.
Even as Mr. Yanukovich met with three Parliament leaders at the presidential headquarters, the violent standoff between demonstrators and the authorities continued, edging Kiev, the capital, toward a state of emergency. Businesses and schools near the conflict zone were told to close, and riot police brought in at least one armored personnel carrier and permitted the use of water cannons even in freezing temperatures. As Mr. Yanukovich met the three principal opposition leaders at the presidential headquarters on Wednesday afternoon, protesters and the police battled on a main street near the Dynamo soccer stadium. Flames from burning tires leapt into the air, beneath billows of black smoke, and there were sporadic explosions and gunfire, as the standoff entered its third day.
Fires continued to burn near Dynamo Stadium, where the main clashes have occurred in recent days, and where protesters have turned the charred carcasses of police buses into barricades. In Independence Square, which demonstrators have occupied since Dec. 1, thousands of protesters reinforced barricades in anticipation of a mobilization by the authorities to clear the area. Two protesters were shot and killed early Wednesday during the violence, the general prosecutor’s office said in a statement that promised a full investigation but generally put the blame on protesters, calling them “members of extremist-minded groups.” At least 300 were injured.
The circumstances of the two shooting deaths remained murky, with protesters saying the men had been killed by the police. The authorities confirmed that two young men had died of gunshot wounds, and said the deaths were under investigation. The local news media reported that a third man died after apparently falling from an archway that protesters had climbed to hurl stones and Molotov cocktails at the police. The circumstances of their deaths were murky, but protesters said that the police had opened fire on them. A third man died after falling from an archway that demonstrators had climbed to hurl rocks and firebombs. There were unconfirmed reports in the Ukrainian news media of four other fatalities, including two more by gunfire and two bodies apparently found on the outskirts of Kiev.
The worsening violence came as Ukraine observed Unity Day, a commemoration of the unification of the eastern and western parts of the country in 1919 that is normally an occasion of national pride. The worsening violence came as Ukraine marked Unity Day — a commemoration of the unification of the Eastern and Western parts of the country in 1919 — and it lent a somber note to what is normally a celebration of national pride. 
Mr. Yanukovich, who has often seemed aloof and remote during the political crisis, quickly issued a statement lamenting the deaths, though he placed the blame on the opposition. The intractable conflict erupted in November when Ukraine was ensnared in a battle for influence between Europe and Russia, and Mr. Yanukovich was assailed by demonstrators for breaking a promise to sign political and free-trade agreements with the European Union. Since then, all efforts at conciliation have failed, and protesters have been repeatedly agitated, first by police violence and more recently by new legislation severely restricting political dissent.
“I express my deep regret over the loss of lives in the conflict triggered by political extremists,” he said in a statement released by his office. “My sincere condolences to the bereaved families.” With both sides dug in, further violence seemed virtually unavoidable, even as other countries seemed unsure what, if anything, they could do.
Mr. Yanukovich also called for an end to the violence. “Once again, I ask people to resist the calls of political radicals,” he said. “It is still not too late to stop and resolve the conflict peacefully. I ask people to return to their homes. We must restore peace, tranquillity and stability in Ukraine.” The opposition leaders, who represent minority factions in Parliament, had initially criticized the violence against the police, but after the fruitless meeting with Mr. Yanukovich they demanded that he offer concessions within 24 hours or were apparently prepared to join the confrontation.
Opponents of the government said three recent actions had been intended to incite the more radical protesters and sow doubt in the minds of moderates: the passing of laws last week restricting public assembly; the blocking of a protest march past Parliament on Sunday; and the sending of cellphone messages on Tuesday to people standing in the vicinity of the fighting that said, “Dear subscriber, you are registered as a participant in a mass disturbance.” Standing on a stage in Independence Square, which protesters have occupied since early December, opposition leaders addressed the crowd with a sense of foreboding.
With the situation increasingly ominous, it was unclear how much sway even the opposition leaders meeting with Mr. Yanukovich could exert over the demonstrators on the street. “I will not live in shame,” said Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk, the leader in Parliament of Fatherland, the party of the jailed former prime minister, Yulia V. Tymoshenko.
The three opposition leaders — the former world champion boxer Vitali Klitschko, who leads a party called the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform; Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk of the Fatherland Party; and Oleg Tyagnybok of the nationalist Svoboda Party — represent distinct factions both in Parliament and among the protesters. “Tomorrow we will go forward together,” Mr. Yatsenyuk said. “If there will be a bullet in the forehead, so be it. It will be honest, just and brave action.” He added, “Viktor Yanukovich, 24 hours are left. Make a decision.”
Mr. Tyagnybok’s followers have been among the most aggressive on the streets and the most persistent in their calls for the government to be ousted. Many are from Western Ukraine, which strongly favors closer ties with Europe and where there is often deep animosity toward Russia and its influence over Ukraine, particularly Eastern Ukraine. Vitali Klitschko, the former world champion boxer who leads a party called Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform, also addressed Mr. Yanukovich in his remarks. “If you won’t hear the people, they will do everything to make you hear them,” he said, adding: “Tomorrow, if the president won’t listen to us, we will go into attack. There is no other way.”
Shortly after 5 p.m., the leaders left the presidential headquarters without speaking to reporters and television crews gathered outside. Oleg Tyagnibok, the leader of the nationalist party Svoboda, whose followers have been among the most aggressive demonstrators, said Mr. Yanukovich did not appear to grasp the gravity of the situation. “It is very difficult to negotiate with those who are blind,” Mr. Tyagnibok said.
Mr. Yanukovich’s office issued a statement announcing that “the first stage of negotiations” had been completed, but did not elaborate other than to note that the talks had lasted more than three hours. The leaders were vague about what would occur in the likely event that Mr. Yanukovich failed to meet their demands. The fighting between protesters and the police, which raged unabated as they spoke, underscored just how little sway they may hold at this point.
Mr. Yanukovich had nearly neutralized the protest movement in December by securing a huge economic rescue package from President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, including $15 billion in loans to help stave off an imminent fiscal crisis. That bought Mr. Yanukovich time, and the crowds on the streets dwindled, especially during the holidays and as the weather grew colder. Meanwhile, demonstrators with sledgehammers and pickaxes were dismantling the plaza they have occupied for weeks, breaking apart cobblestones to be used as weapons against the police. They bagged the broken chunks and carted them to the line of conflict about a quarter-mile away.
But the aggressive move last week by Mr. Yanukovich’s Party of Regions, adopting the legislative package of restrictions by a rare show of hands rather than a regular vote, infuriated the opposition and drew more people to the street. At a rally on Sunday, many wore masks and even teakettles in defiance of a new restriction on wearing masks or helmets at public gatherings. One man wielding a pickax, Serhiy, 35, described himself as unemployed and from the town of Sumy. He was not shy about how the stones would be used. “We will throw them to protect ourselves,” he said. “It’s not possible to solve this conflict peacefully. We have tried all peaceful means.”
The United States Embassy in Kiev said on Wednesday that it had revoked the visas of several people suspected of abetting violence between police and protesters last year, but it did not identify those people, citing the confidentiality of visa applications. The statement added that the State Department was considering further action against “those responsible for the current violence.” Mr. Yanukovich, who has often seemed aloof and remote throughout the political crisis, issued a statement on Wednesday lamenting the deaths but placing blame squarely on the opposition.
The European Union called on the Ukrainian government and opposition to begin “genuine dialogue,” and the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, said in a statement, “I strongly condemn the violent escalation of events in Kiev overnight leading to casualties.” “I express my deep regret over the loss of lives in the conflict triggered by political extremists; my sincere condolences to the bereaved families,” he said.
Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, accused politicians from the European Union and the United States of encouraging the fighting over the past three days. The situation in Kiev, he warned, was “getting out of control.” Mr. Yanukovich also called for an end to the violence. “Once again I ask people to resist the calls of political radicals,” he said. “It is still not too late to stop and resolve the conflict peacefully. I ask people to return to their homes. We must restore peace, tranquillity and stability in Ukraine.”
“It seems someone is interested in this chaos,” Mr. Lavrov said on Tuesday at a news conference in Moscow. Also, the United States Embassy in Kiev said Wednesday that it had revoked the visas of several people suspected of abetting violence between the police and protesters last year, but it did not identify them, citing the confidentiality of visa applications.