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Police snipers fire live rounds at protesters, killing many
• European foreign leaders meeting in Kiev for talks to end bloodshed
• Ukrainian ambassador summoned in London to protest at crackdown
More graphic footage shows protesters in Kiev coming under fire. Warning:
the following clip shows protesters being wounded and bodies being
dragged away. It doesn’t show the source of the shots. Ukraine’s
Interior ministry has confirmed that the security forces have opened
fire against protesters.
In a statement quoted by Russia Today, it shots were fired in self-defence.
On
February 20, from the windows of Kiev conservatory, unknown gunmen
opened fire at law-enforcement officials. Aiming to save lives and the
health of the security forces, it was decided to relocate the troops to
safer spots and according to the current legislation, to use firearms as
self-defense.
Updated
Britain has summoned the Ukrainian ambassador to London to protest against the crackdown in Kiev.
In
a statement it said the Europe minister David Lidington “expressed
extreme concern over the reports of further violence and deaths, and
made clear that action against peaceful protestors on Independence
Square is unacceptable”.
More video footage has emerged purporting to police marksman shooting at protesters.
The
footage from Radio Svoboda backs up Ian Traynor’s account (see previous
two posts). Commenting on the clip, Traynor said: “I saw these guys
across the street from where I was watching.”
He added: “The city
centre now belongs to the opposition. For now it’s quiet, and there’s an
absolute frenzy of barricade building, involving young and old, men and
women.”
Ian Traynor has more on the deathtoll today.
The
guardian alone can confirm 21 dead, but it is likely to be much
higher. I counted 12 corpses in the makeshift morgue, but a doctor said
there were 15 here. My colleague Harriet Salem counted nine bodies in a
different part of town.
The Guardian’s Ian Traynor in Kiev witnessed four police snipers, two of whom fired live rounds at protesters.
“I
saw marksmen firing from automatic weapons with telescopic sights,” Ian
said in a telephone update. He also reported seeing the bodies of 12
named protesters who had been bought to a makeshift morgue in the lobby
of his hotel. All had been shot, according to medics.
Kiev is out on the streets at the moment
building new barricades. Human chains have been formed, massive
barricades have been built ... to try to prevent the return of the
police.
Ian pointed out that policeman had also been
killed by gunfire in recent days, but it was unclear whether
protesters had used firearms today.
I
watched hundreds, if not over a thousand, of protesters retake that
part of town this morning. They were armed with axes, sledge hammers,
crow bars, bits of metal, bits of wood, and knives. I didn’t see any
firearms, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any.
He said some of the protesters were kitted out like “paramilitaries”.
Describing
the makeshift morgue in the Ukraina hotel, Ian said: “There are 12
corpses laid out under white sheets. All of them named.” A medic in
charge told Ian that all of the dead had been killed by gunshot wounds.
“A lot of it was single shot wounds to the head, the neck and the heart.
So that would tend to corroborate reports of sharpshooters,” Ian said.
There
are figures circulating of around 35 people killed today, Ian said. If
confirmed this would be highest deathtoll so far in the recent upsurge
in violence, and the worst in Ukraine’s post-Soviet history.
Ian also confirmed reports that protesters have captured dozens of police.
There
must be quite a bit of dissatisfaction in the police ranks. Around 50
police either surrendered or were captured and were marched off. Some of
them were requiring medical treatment. Priests were involved in leading
them away to field hospitals.
A senior municipal official in Kiev is reported to have resigned
from President Yanukovych’s Party of the Regions, over a decision to
close the metro system.
Interfax reported that city boss Vladimir Makeyenko has resigned from the ruling party and ordered the metro to be reopened.
It was closed in an attempt to stop protesters reinforcing Independence Square from outside. Earlier the head of the metro system had threatened to resign if the system was not reopened.
On Wednesday David Dalton, Ukraine analyst at The Economist Intelligence Unit, urged those watching the crisis to keep an eye on Ukraine’s political elite over the coming days.
“Key to watch is if any elements of state security, the main oligarchs, Party of Regions members or Communists start to distance themselves from Yanukovych,” he said in emailed analysis of the crisis.
Anti-government protesters try to shelter
behind their shields during clashes with police. Photograph: Sergei
Supinsky/AFP/Getty ImagesProtesters stand behind burning barricades during a face-off against police. Photograph: Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty ImagesAn Orthodox priest holds a cross as a woman
reacts next to dead bodies following violence in Independence Square.
Photograph: Konstantin Chernichkin/Reuters
Russia attacks EU sanctions threat as 'blackmail'
Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, has criticised the EU’s
threat of sanctions against Ukraine, as “blackmail”, according to a snap
update by Reuters, citing RIA Novosti.
And foreign ministry
spokesman, Alexander Lukashevich, said the threats were inappropriate
and would only aggravate the confrontation.
European foreign ministers will discuss sanctions at an emergency meeting in Brussels this afternoon.
In a briefing note on the meeting the
EU said: “All possible options will be explored, including restrictive
measures against those responsible for human rights violations,
violence and the use of excessive force.”
Central Kiev erupted in battles, smoke, grenades and gunfire on
Thursday morning as bands of young male protesters drove riot police
lines back from Independence Square and took control over a much larger
swath of territory.
Shortly before 9am volleys of smoke and stun
grenades as well as what sounded like automatic gunfire rang through
Kiev as police initially sought to stem the offensive. Youths armed with
axes, knives, truncheons and corrugated iron shields advanced on the
police on a bridge behind the square that had been set alight.
The common riot police lines dissolved as they were bussed away, to be replaced by “Berkut” (police special forces).
A
large area surrounding the Ukraina hotel, which an hour earlier had
been under the control of riot police, fell to the young protesters.
Dozens of wounded were dragged away on planks of wood, on makeshift
stretchers, or dragged along the ground on their backs
Updated
The EU and the US has expressed alarm at this morning’s bloodshed. A joint statement from US Ambassador in Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt and his EU counterpart, Jan Tombinski, said:
The
EU and US ambassadors to Ukraine express grave concern at the
resumption of violence in Kyiv and urge the sides to return to a cease
fire. A meaningful dialogue must be established immediately to address
the concerns of the Ukrainian people and prevent further loss of life.
The protection of human lives should be the highest priority at this
moment.
European commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has also pleaded for an end to further bloodshed.
Updated
Moscow has been making more ominous noises, according to our correspondent Shaun Walker.
Russian
prime minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday that President
Yanukovych should not be a “doormat”, in what seemed the latest words
from Moscow urging the Ukrainian authorities to crack down.
“We
need partners who are in good shape and for the authorities that work
in Ukraine to be legitimate and effective, so that people don’t wipe
their feet on them like a doormat,” said Medvedev in televised remarks.
In
the Olympic village in Sochi, Ukrainian athletes added black armbands
to the Ukrainian flags hanging from their balconies, a day after the IOC
told them they were not allowed to wear the armbands in competition.
A Ukrainian skier, Bogdana Matsotka, and her coach have pulled out of the games in protest at the use of force in Kiev.
The
head of the Crimean parliament, Vladimir Konstantinov, told Interfax
that if the situation continues to deteriorate, there is a possibility
of the region separating from Ukraine. Crimea, with its largely
ethnic-Russian population, is staunchly pro-Moscow.
“It’s
possible, if the country collapses” said Konstantinov, on the
possibility of secession. “Everything is heading in that direction.”
President Yanukovych’s office has blamed the latest violence on the protesters.
A
statement from Yanukovych’s office quoted by Reuters said: “They (the
protesters)
went on to the offensive. They are working in organised groups. They are
using firearms, including sniper rifles. They are shooting to kill. The
number of dead and injured among police officers is dozens,” the
statement on the presidential website said.”
A Reuters
photographer counted 21 bodies in civilian clothes in three places on
the square, a few hundred metres from the presidency. That raised the
death toll since Tuesday to at least 43.
Other local media have put the death toll as high as 50 in the latest clashes alone.
Updated
New video footage appears to confirm that police have used firearms
in the latest clashes. It cannot be independently verified at this
stage.
Sweden’s foreign minister, Carl Bildt, says European observers have confirmed that live ammunition has been used.
Sweden’s foreign minister, Carl Bildt, has expressed alarm at the latest clashes in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, another source has confirmed that meeting of three
European foreign ministers with President Yanukovych is going ahead.
“They
are meeting him now,” a diplomat told Reuters, contradicting earlier
reports that the three ministers - from Poland, Germany and France - had
left for security reasons. Update: Germany’s foreign office has also confirmed the meeting is taking place.
Earlier they met opposition leaders, include Vitali Klitschko.
Updated
On Wednesday’s Ukraine’s interior ministry claimed the security forces were not using firearms. The latest photographs and reports suggest otherwise.
Protesters have also been photographed with guns.
The Telegraph’s Roland Oliphant says it is difficult to say whether protesters have fired back at the security services.
But there are reports that at least one policeman was killed in Thursday’s battle.
Confusion abounds. There are conflicting reports about that meeting
of European foreign ministers with President Yanukovych. A presidential
aide has just told AP that the meeting is underway, after a diplomatic
source told Reuters that the three ministers had left for security
reasons.
We will try to get a more definitive line soon.
There are varying reports of more deaths and injuries, but no official update from the ministry of health.
Christopher Miller, editor of the Kiev Post, reported 35 deaths in four separate locations.
The BBC’s Duncan Crawford, confirmed five dead in the Ukraine hotel.
The Telegraph’s Roland Oliphant reported 10 dead in Independence Square.
European ministers leave Kiev
Update: This report turned out to be false
So much more diplomacy .... those three European foreign ministers have left Kiev for security reasons, without
seeing President Yanukovych.
“They have left. They did not see the President for security reasons,” said a diplomatic source told Reuters.
The three ministers - from Poland, Germany and France - had been due
to see Yanukovych in efforts to promote a political compromise to the
crisis convulsing the country, now in its third month.
The French embassy in Kiev confirmed to AP that the meeting with Yanukovych had been cancelled.
Updated
Ukrainian skier boycotts Sochi
A Ukrainian alpine skier and her coach have pulled out of the Sochi
Games in protest at the authorities’ deadly use of force against the
protests in Kiev, AFP reports.
Bogdana Matsotska and her coach Oleg Matsotskiy, who is also her
father, said they were “outraged” by the refusal of President Viktor
Yanukovych to favour dialogue.
“In a sign of protest... against the bandit-like actions against
protesters, we are taking no further part in the Sochi Olympics in
2014,” Oleg Matsotskiy wrote on his Facebook page in a statement in the
name of himself and his daughter.
International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams confirmed
that the pair had pulled out of the Games after the violence in Ukraine.
On Wednesday the committee banned Ukrainian competitors at the Sochi winter Games from wearing black armbands to commemorate the deaths of protesters and police in Kiev. Ukraine's Bogdana Matsotska skis during the
women's alpine skiing Super-G competition before pulling out of the
Sochi games in protest at the violent crackdown in Kiev. Photograph:
Ruben Sprich/Reuters
Protesters have captured dozens of policeman and up to eight people
have been killed, according to the latest reports and images from
central Kiev.
AP reported seeing the bodies of several protesters
at the edge of the protest camp.
A medic for the protesters, Bohdan Soloviy, says eight protesters were
killed by gunfire on Thursday as demonstrators tried to take control of a
building near the encampment.
In a statement published early Thursday, the Ukrainian Health Ministry
said 28 people have died and 287 have been hospitalized during the two
days of street violence.
Protesters, who have set up a medical care
facility in a downtown cathedral, say the numbers are significantly
higher.
Ukrainian police said Thursday that more than 20 officers have been
wounded by gunfire in the capital. A statement from the Interior
Ministry on Thursday said the gunfire appeared to be coming from the
national music conservatory, which is on the edge of the downtown square
housing an extensive protest tent camp. It did not say when the
officers were wounded, but added that they were receiving treatment on
Thursday.
Also Thursday, the parliament building was evacuated because of fears
protesters were preparing to storm it, said parliament spokeswoman Irina
Karnelyuk.
The renewed clashes despite the declaration of truce follow days of
violence, the most deadly since protests kicked off three months ago
after President Yanukovych shelved an association agreement with the European
Union in favour of closer ties with Russia.
Political and diplomatic manoeuvring has continued, with both Moscow and
the West eager to gain influence over this former Soviet republic.
Three EU foreign ministers from Germany, France and Poland are in Kiev
Thursday to speak with both sides before an emergency EU meeting in
Brussels to consider sanctions against those responsible for the recent
violence in Ukraine.
Protesters have gained the the upper hand in scenes of “absolute
chaos” in Kiev, according to the Guardian’s Ian Traynor. He describes
seeing 30 wounded people from the latest clashes as shots rang out.
“It’s absolute chaos here: a lot of gunfire, a lot of grenades, a
lot of explosions, a lot of smoke. I’ve seen dozens of injured being
dragged away along the street.”
Radical protesters have moved into territory previously occupied by the security forces, including police snipers, Ian said.
The
demonstrators have the upper hand and they have driven the police back
up a street called Instytutska, several hundred metres. In front of me
there are vehicles blazing on fire, and the protesters are taking them
apart and adding them to the new barricades. So we have a new front
line, it appears.
Ian speculated that the presence of European ministers in Kiev may explain the police withdrawal.
It
would appear that the riot police were told to back off and not to
inflict too many casualties. It may be political, with three European
foreign ministers in town to see President Yanukovych, that the
authorities want to show that they are not provoking violence.
Personally
I’ve seen at least 30 wounded. I’ve seen people with gunshots wounds to
the stomach with a lot of blood. I would expect deaths, but I can’t
confirm any ...
It is turning more violent with a more
radical edge to the protests. Opposition leaders seem to be losing
control of that more radical flank.
Updated
Protesters appear to be back in control of Independence Square, according to live footage from Kiev.
Protesters have captured five members of the security forces,
according to Christopher Miller, the editor of the Kiev Post, in one of a
series of dramatic updates on the latest violence.
Khreschatyk hotel is marked on this map, Europe Square is to the north-east of the hotel. Map of Kiev showing the site of the recent clashes Photograph: /The Guardian
Protesters regain Independence Square
Protesters are back in control of Independence Square after the
latest renewed clashes with the police, according to several journalists
in Kiev.
There are also unconfirmed reports of casualties from this morning’s violence.
Others also report that the truce is now effectively over.
Summary
Welcome to more live coverage of the crisis in Ukraine as renewed clashes
in Kiev’s Independence Square threaten to shatter a truce aimed at
ending the country’s worst violence in its post-Soviet history.
The
country is now on the brink, with a recalcitrant president, seemingly
egged on by Moscow, digging in his heels and unleashing massive force
while the opposition is becoming more radicalised and inclined towards
armed resistance.
“The people either have to rise up, or if there
is a big crackdown, they will go underground as partisans,” said Andrei
Poznyakov, 23. “This president is incapable of creating a decent
situation for people.”
Whether the violence that left more than
two dozen dead and hundreds wounded will shock the two sides back into
compromise or spawn riskier polarisation is not clear. A statement on
Yanukovych’s website late on Wednesday said he had agreed a “truce” with
opposition leaders before “the start to negotiations with the aim of
ending bloodshed”, but previous talks have collapsed with both sides
blaming the other for the escalation.
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