Kiev explodes into chaos; at least 25 reported dead in Ukraine protests
Ukraine leader seems to vacillate as U.S., E.U. weigh action
(about 3 hours later)
Ukrainian riot police armed with water cannons, stun grenades and rubber bullets sought to drive protesters away from Kiev’s main square Wednesday after clashes left at least 25 people dead and more than 240 injured in a dramatic escalation of the country’s three-month political crisis.
KIEV, Ukraine – Hints of turmoil within the government arose Wednesday as a day and night of fighting that left at least 26 people dead slackened to a standoff on the streets, and U.S. and E.U. leaders condemned the violence.
Defying hundreds of police massed around the Ukrainian capital’s Independence Square, the opposition base known as the Maidan, protesters stormed Kiev’s central post office Wednesday, taking it over after a nearby building they had occupied was burned down in Tuesday’s clashes, the Associated Press reported.
As fires continued to burn on the Maidan, or Independence Square, forming a buffer of flame and thick greasy smoke between skirmishing protesters and police, the Security Service of Ukraine announced that it was launching an “anti-terrorist operation.” A little while later, the Defense Ministry said it may join in.
Thousands of opposition demonstrators armed with rocks and molotov cocktails are vowing to hold their ground in their effort to force President Viktor Yanukovych to call new elections and chart a new course for Ukraine.
The latest push by riot police came a day after deadly clashes led to a fire-lit nighttime assault by Interior Ministry troops on the main protest encampment in what may be an irreversible turn in Ukraine’s political crisis.
[Watch live video from Kiev]
[Watch live video from Kiev]
In response, U.S. and European officials said their governments are considering sanctions against the Yanukovych administration. President Obama, who embarked on a trip to Mexico on Wednesday for a meeting with his Mexican and Canadian counterparts, is following the situation in Ukraine closely and discussed it with French President Francois Hollande, the White House said.
But with Russia suggesting that Tuesday’s violence constituted an attempted coup and an escalation on the part of the government appearing imminent, President Viktor Yanukovych fired his chief military commander Wednesday evening. And the security service, the SBU, said it was making preparations for an anti-terrorist operation but had not put it into effect, according to the Interfax news agency.
The United States is urging the Ukrainian government to withdraw riot police from Independence Square, call a truce with the protesters and hold talks with opposition leaders, deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters traveling with Obama aboard Air Force One on Wednesday. He said the latest scenes of violence in Kiev “were completely outrageous and have no place in the 21st century.”
Small but violent protests left several people wounded – and one reported dead – in Khmelnitsky and Odessa, the Black Sea port.
The 28-nation European Union on Wednesday called a meeting of foreign ministers to decide on its response, including possible sanctions, which could include travel bans and asset freezes targeting the Ukrainian leadership.
In eastern Donetsk, Yanukovych’s home town, and Kharkov, governors talked tough about defeating the protests.
The French, German and Polish foreign ministers plan to travel to the Ukrainian capital Thursday to meet with key figures and assess the situation ahead of an emergency E.U. meeting in Brussels later in the day to decide on sanctions, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius announced.
But the city of Lviv in western Ukraine effectively declared itself autonomous from the rule of the central government. In nearby Ivano-Frankivsk, the local commander of the security forces pledged not to carry out any illegal orders.
The Russian foreign ministry, which backs Yanukovych, said the events of Tuesday were an attempted coup by the opposition, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on Western countries to use their influence with the opposition to force it into negotiations with the government.
But the White House and European Union strongly criticized Yanukovych on Wednesday, blaming him for the violence.
President Obama, who embarked on a trip to Mexico on Wednesday for a meeting with his Mexican and Canadian counterparts, had warnings for both Yanukovych and protest leaders.
“I want to be very clear as we work through these next several days in Ukraine that we’re going to be watching closely and we expect the Ukrainian government to show restraint, to not resort to violence in dealing with peaceful protestors,” Obama said. “We’ve also said we expect peaceful protestors to remain peaceful, and we’ll be monitoring very closely the situation, recognizing that with our European partners and the international community there will be consequences if people step over the line.”
E.U. Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Wednesday expressed “shock and utter dismay” over the “violence and use of excessive force,” which he blamed on Ukraine’s “political leadership.” He said he expects the E.U. to agree on “targeted measures against those responsible.”
E.U. Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Wednesday expressed “shock and utter dismay” over the “violence and use of excessive force,” which he blamed on Ukraine’s “political leadership.” He said he expects the E.U. to agree on “targeted measures against those responsible.”
In a tough statement, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said that “President Yanukovych has blood on his hands.”
The Swedish foreign minister, Carl Bildt, said Yanukovych “has blood on his hands.”
But Yanukovych squarely blamed the protesters for the violent turn of events, saying Wednesday that opposition leaders “crossed a line when they called people to arms,” AP reported. He received strong backing from Russia, which accused the West of sparking the clashes by encouraging the opposition.
Bildt said Ukraine would have been on its way to a better future by now, with a trade agreement with the E.U., were it not for threats from Moscow.
Yanukovych also charged that opposition leaders were using the protests to try to seize power by force, Reuters news agency reported. Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Yanukovych by telephone and agreed that the opposition was attempting to stage a coup, a Kremlin spokesman said.
“It is a dark day in Europe,” he said.
After weeks of relative calm, trucks and tents burned, molotov cocktails smashed against police shields, and banners illuminated by the flames whipped in the strong breeze Tuesday night. The Health Ministry said 25 people were reported killed, some from gunshot wounds, and 241 people were reported injured. The violence was the deadliest since protests erupted last fall after Yanukovych rejected a trade deal with Europe and turned to Russia for financial help.
The foreign ministers of Poland, Germany and France intend to travel here Thursday to hold talks about the continuing crisis, and then to Brussels for an E.U. meeting to consider targeted sanctions against Ukrainian officials.
“No one wants Ukraine to descend into chaos/choice is in President Yanukovich’s hands,” tweeted Secretary of State John F. Kerry.
The United States is urging the Ukrainian government to withdraw riot police from Independence Square, call a truce with the protesters and hold talks with opposition leaders, deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters traveling with Obama aboard Air Force One on Wednesday. He said the latest scenes of violence in Kiev “were completely outrageous and have no place in the 21st century.”
Authorities said 800 people have been injured, and of the 26 killed, 10 are interior ministry troops.
[READ: The 10 most important events since protests reignited]
[READ: The 10 most important events since protests reignited]
Regardless of whether police succeed in clearing the Maidan, Ukraine appears to be heading for an even deeper divide. The hostility that the opposition feels toward Yanukovych is intense and widespread, especially in the western part of the country.
There have been guarded expression of unease within the ruling Party of Regions over the turn of events. Ukraine is without a prime minister a month after Mykola Azarov was forced from office. Rinat Akhmetov, an oligarch once very close to Yanukovych, has called for an end to violence by both sides.
Having turned to Russia for much-needed financial help, Yanukovych may finally have burned his bridges to the West with Tuesday’s developments, leaving him in danger of being a weakened and unpopular supplicant to Moscow.
If an “anti-terrorist” campaign unfolds, it is not clear what it will entail or how effectively it could be carried out nationwide. Government officials say hardline protesters have stolen 1,500 firearms during the three months of demonstrations, and have used them against police. A special operation would presumably give the SBU the authority to seize people and property without court orders for a specified period of time.
The eruption of violence came after nearly a month in which Yanukovych and opposition political leaders warily maneuvered over a new constitution. But early Tuesday afternoon, the parliament, or Verkhovna Rada, refused to take up the issue, and what had been a peaceful demonstration quickly turned into three simultaneous street battles.
The defense ministry denied that armored units were moving toward Kiev. Paratroop battalions have been reported being deployed, but to guard defense ministry sites, not to take part in an attack on civilian protesters, officials said.
The leaders of the protest denounced Yanukovych as the assault on the square began about 8 p.m. Tuesday local time. They said he had never intended to reach a deal and had used the weeks of talks to prepare a huge police attack.
Yanukovych, echoing the Russians, has said the prime political leaders of the opposition must disassociate themselves from the hardline right-wingers among the protesters who have done most of the fighting with police.
Yanukovych’s spokeswoman, Hanna Herman, told Radio Liberty’s Ukrainian service that there would be no further negotiations until the violence stops.
The helmeted young militants of the group that calls itself Pravy Sektor have without question complicated the role of the more moderate political leaders – and in important ways helped to set the opposition agenda.
“Negotiations will only take place when the violent methods stop, when the opposition gets its armed people off the street and when calm comes back to the country,” she said. “Then it will be necessary to sit at the negotiating table.”
But the opposition politicians have been careful not to have a falling-out with their most committed wing.
Lesya Orobets, an opposition member of parliament, said the protesters fell into a trap laid for them by Yanukovych. She said he had knowingly provoked the hard-line members of a right-wing group called Pravy Sektor, who have formed the most aggressive element of the opposition and who led the fighting when it erupted.
In a joint statement by the three main opposition parties, they said they were not responsible for Tuesday’s deadly violence.
“This massacre has been carefully planned in advance and is intended to eventually destroy any hint of democracy in Ukraine,” she wrote on Facebook.
“We have never called and never will call people to pick up arms,” it said. “This is our principled stance. The death of any person is a personal tragedy for each one of us.”
The protests began Nov. 21 when Yanukovych backed away from a trade deal with the European Union, eventually turning to Russia for $15 billion in support. He can now be assured of European hostility.
The statement called on Yanukovych to enforce a complete cease-fire and withdraw Interior troops from around the Maidan.
The United States condemned the explosion of street violence in Ukraine and said the government bears primary responsibility for restoring calm.
“Yanukovych must finally realize that there is an uprising in the country against him personally caused by all his policies during the time of his four-year term,” the statement said. “People driven to despair demand not simply the dismissal of Yanukovych but his trial.”
Vice President Biden telephoned Yanukovych to express what the White House called “grave concern” and urged the embattled leader to pull back government forces and immediately resume political discussions with opponents.
In Sochi, Russia, the Ukrainian Olympic team asked IOC officials if they could wear black armbands in mourning over the deaths here, but the request was turned down.
Biden “made clear that the United States condemns violence by any side, but that the government bears special responsibility to de-escalate the situation,” a White House statement said.
Earlier, White House press secretary Jay Carney said the Obama administration is “appalled” by the violent crackdown on anti-government protesters in the Ukrainian capital.
Washington announced no specific new action, but the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, threatened both sides with sanctions.
“We believe Ukraine’s crisis can still be solved via dialogue, but those on both sides who fuel violence will open themselves to sanctions,” Pyatt said on Twitter, in both English and Russian.
In Russia, the head of the foreign relations committee of the parliament, Alexei Pushkov, tweeted that Western pressure on Ukraine had “opened the way for radicals.”
The Interior Ministry brought water cannons and armored personnel carriers to the edges of the Maidan. The subway was shut down, and authorities said they were closing off road access to Kiev. In months past, caravans of vehicles, especially from western Ukrainian cities, have often flocked to the capital at times of perceived threats. The country’s leading independent television company, Channel 5, went off the air during the evening in much of Ukraine, according to reports.
Inside their own lines, demonstrators sang the Ukrainian national anthem.
“We will not fall for their provocation, but we won’t retreat even one step from here, from this Maidan, and we don’t have anywhere to retreat to,” an opposition leader, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, told the crowd during the evening.
“We remain here; we are defending our Maidan, we are defending our Ukraine, and we are defending our future,” Yatsenyuk said.
Early in the evening, Interior Ministry troops and hired civilians — popularly known as “titushki” — could be seen on Web video streams moving down Hrushevsky Street, where violent clashes occurred in January. They stormed Ukraine House, an exhibition center on nearby European Square that had been taken by protesters in January.
Then they turned and moved toward the Maidan.
The fighting had begun in the streets around the parliament, which once had been in the firm control of the police.
Snipers were reported on rooftops. At one point they were confronted on a roof by protesters carrying steel rods, according to witnesses. The snipers withdrew.
Opposition forces stormed the headquarters of the ruling Party of Regions, though it was later retaken by government supporters who said they found the body of an office worker inside.
Several Interior troops were captured by demonstrators, according to reports, and taken to the Maidan as prisoners.
The shift toward violence was abrupt. In recent weeks, an amnesty had led to the release of nearly all those arrested over the winter in connection with the protests, and opposition forces had abandoned the city hall and partially pulled back from Hrushevsky Street.
Parliament, controlled by the Party of Regions, was to consider constitutional changes that would give Ukraine a governing system with a strong parliament and weak president.
But opposition political leaders showed very little trust in Yanukovych even before Tuesday, and their more militant followers have proved difficult to control.
Tuesday’s violence led Vitali Klitschko, head of the opposition UDAR party, to declare that Yanukovych must agree to early elections for president and parliament. The next scheduled presidential election is in 2015.
Ashton, the top diplomat for the European Union, said in a statement: “I am deeply worried about the grave new escalation in Kiev and the reported victims. I condemn all use of violence, including against public or party buildings.”
The opposition said more than 100 protesters had been injured by police.
“Soldiers, don’t take blood onto your hands by protecting these gangsters in power,” Yuri Lutsenko, once the interior minister and now a protest leader, said on the stage at the Maidan, according to the Kyiv Post. “If you set foot on the Maidan, this is your choice. Whoever passes this threshold determines their country’s future.”
He added: “You won’t be a traitor if you join us. Show your true soul and hearts.”
William Branigin in Washington contributed to this report.
William Branigin in Washington contributed to this report.
