February 20, 2014 -- Updated 1810 GMT (0210 HKT)
At least 100 people are killed and 500 wounded, head of protesters' medical service tells CNN. FULL STORY
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Scores die on Kiev streets
Police reportedly taken hostage
At least 100 people are killed and 500 wounded, says the head of protesters' medical service.
Truce crumbles amid gunfire in Ukraine, protesters claim 100 dead
February 20, 2014 -- Updated 1809 GMT (0209 HKT)
Protesters: 100 dead in Ukraine
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: EU to freeze assets, ban travel of Ukrainians deemed responsible for violence
- Russian ambassador accuses protesters of trying for "violent coup"
- Opposition: Snipers at work in Kiev, killing some of 100 reported dead Thursday
- The President's office blames protesters for breaking the truce
Are you in Ukraine? Send us your photos and experiences but please stay safe.
Kiev, Ukraine (CNN) -- A short-lived truce crumbled
Thursday as gunfire erupted at Independence Square, the center of
anti-government protests and an increasingly violent crisis that
threatens catastrophe for this divided nation.
As protesters fortified
barricades and some tried to dodge apparent sniper bullets, Western
leaders denounced the violence. Russia's United Nations ambassador
accused the opposition of trying to stage a coup.
The head of the
protesters' medical service said 100 people died and 500 were injured in
clashes on Thursday, just hours after the government declared a truce
in fighting that had shocked world leaders with the deaths of 28 people
two days before.
The Ukrainian government
has not released its own casualty figures, but Interior Minister Vitali
Zakharchenko said 25 police officers had been wounded and an unspecified
number of them had died. Some others had been taken hostage, he said.
If Thursday's death toll is confirmed, it would make it the deadliest day in Ukraine since protests began.
Gunfire heard in Kiev, protesters fall
Will the Ukraine truce last?
"I am a Ukrainian"
Photos: Ukraine protests turn deadly
The violence inflames a
crisis that started in November, when President Viktor Yanukovych
reversed a decision to sign a trade deal with the European Union and
instead turned toward Russia. Ukraine has long been divided between
historic loyalties to Europe and its eastern neighbor.
Western foreign ministers
were in Kiev Thursday trying to find a solution, and Russia said it
will send a mediator there at Yanukovych's request to negotiate with the
opposition.
But the Russian
ambassador to the U.N., Vitaly Churkin, said his government doesn't
believe the opposition wants a dialogue. He accused protest leaders of
invading government facilities as a buildup to a takeover of parliament.
"We think that this attempt to execute a violent coup should stop," he said.
In a statement, the
White House said it was outraged by images of security forces firing on
protesters and urged those forces to withdraw and "respect the right of
peaceful protest."
It's unclear what
prompted Thursday's clashes. CNN crews at the scene reported that as
security forces were moving away from the area, a group of protesters
pursued them throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails.
Zakharchenko said the
violence had been "provoked exclusively by the opposition leaders,"
echoing an earlier statement from Yanukovych's office accusing
protesters of breaking the truce.
"The opposition used the
negotiation period to buy time, to mobilize and get weapons to
protesters," the statement from the President's office said.
However, a doctor
volunteering to treat protesters, Olga Bogomolets, accused government
forces of shooting to kill, saying she had treated 13 people she
believed had been targeted by "professional snipers."
"They were shot directly
to their hearts, their brain and to their neck," she said. "They didn't
give any chance to doctors, for us, to save lives."
CNN could not independently confirm Bogomolets' claim of sniper fire.
At a hotel converted
into a triage center, bodies covered in bloodied sheets lay on the
floor. Orthodox priests prayed over them.
In a statement that
appeared to increase pressure on protesters, the Interior Ministry said
it reserved the right to use force to free about 70 police officers it
said had been taken hostage Thursday by protesters.
However, a number of
people purporting to be police officers appeared on Ukrainian television
saying they had joined protesters of their own free will. It wasn't
clear if those claiming to be police officers were among those allegedly
taken hostage.
Diplomatic efforts under way
After meeting in urgent
session in Brussels, European Union officials agreed to freeze the
assets of Ukrainians deemed responsible for the violence, and to prevent
them from traveling into the European Union, according to an EU
diplomat who declined to be named citing policy.
The United States also
was preparing an order to freeze assets of Ukrainians who are believed
to be involved in the crackdown, a senior administration official said
Thursday. It's likely President Barack Obama will sign the order later
in the day, but his administration is closely watching diplomatic
efforts on the ground to make sure such a move won't be
counterproductive, the administration official said.
The foreign ministers of
Germany, France and Poland traveled to Kiev on Thursday to meet with
opposition leaders and Yanukovych. They had planned to attend the
Brussels meeting, but talks went longer than expected, a German foreign
ministry spokeswoman told CNN.
German Chancellor Angela
Merkel urged the Ukrainian President to accept European help in talks
with the anti-government opposition, Merkel's office said Thursday.
Russia's foreign
ministry appeared to criticize Western diplomatic efforts, according to a
report by Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.
"The ongoing attempts to
obtrusively intervene from outside, threat with sanctions or trying to
influence the situation in any other ways are inappropriate and can't
lead to anything good but can only aggravate the confrontation," the
report quoted spokesman Aleksandr Lukashevich.
As the protests
continued, anger over the rejected trade deal with the EU morphed into
resentment of Yanukovych, his closeness to Russia, and the power he
wields.
The violence caused political fallout in the President's own party and elsewhere.
Kiev Mayor Volodymyr
Makeenko announced his resignation from the country's ruling party,
according to the city administration website. The same post also
announced that the city's metro transit system is reopening. Government
officials had closed the system to prevent protesters from reaching
Independence Square, also known as Maidan.
At the Sochi Olympics,
Ukrainian athletes held a moment of silence Thursday for fellow citizens
slain in the violence erupting in Kiev, the Ukrainian Olympic committee
said.
Thursday's violent
developments came just hours after Yanukovych announced a truce -- and
opposition leaders agreed to abide by it.
New round of violence erupts in Kiev
Protests are ongoing despite truce
New video from the fiery Ukraine clash
Opposition leader Vitali
Klitschko, a former world-class boxer, met with Yanukovych Wednesday --
discussions that led to the truce.
They were expected to meet again Thursday, but it was unclear if that meeting would still happen after the most recent violence.
Senior officials in the
Obama administration told CNN Wednesday they were bracing for Ukraine to
intensify its crackdown under pressure from Russia.
"Things have gotten very
bad," one official said. "The government is speaking in very nasty,
aggressive and confrontational terms. It signals they are prepared to do
something."
Analysts warned there
was little that outside pressure could do, especially if the Ukrainian
military gets involved on the side of the government cracking down on
protesters.
"My own hunch," said Council on Foreign Relations President Richard Haass, "is this is going to continue to escalate."
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh, Phil Black, Andrew Carey and Todd Baxter reported fromcopy http://edition.cnn.com
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