[Updated, 11:46 a.m. PST Feb. 20:
Ukrainian authorities reported that three police officers
died in the clashes, the AP said.]
Early in the afternoon, about 200 riot police, many
with shotguns, were deployed in the Council of Ministers
building in Grushevsky Street.
Photos: Deadly clashes in Kiev, Ukraine
Not far away, in front of the parliament building, a
police officer was instructing his squad armed with shields
and clubs: "Remember, the more organized fashion you retreat
in, the more chances for you to stay alive."
In the meantime, protesters were busy building and
fortifying new barricades a few hundred yards down the
street.
The morning clashes began when police used stun grenades to
attack the
protest encampment in Independence Square. Protesters
opened fire, forcing police to retreat, carrying their
wounded to nearby buses.
One policeman was kneeling near another lying on the
ground in central Khreshchatik Street. After a quick
examination, he shouted: "Damn, another shotgun wound!"
Shots were fired and bullets were whistling all across the
stretch between Independence Square and Europe Square
nearby. At least 25 policemen were injured, 14 with shotgun
wounds, said an officer who did not want to be named. He
added that two officers are in critical condition.
As police ran for their buses to drive away with the
injured, several dozen officers stayed behind to cover the
retreat.
Then several hundred masked protesters with shields, clubs
and Molotov cocktails charged police. A hand fight with
shields and clubs ensued in Europe Square. Soon the
protesters prevailed and police were in full retreat, some
surrounded by club-wielding protesters, pushed to the
ground, clubbed and kicked on all sides.
One police officer was shooting at protesters with a handgun
but it jammed, so he turned around and fled. At least one
protester also armed with a handgun was shooting at the
retreating police. Some protesters were continuing to beat
up police officers lying on the ground, some were pushing
their colleagues away and trying to help injured officers.
At least half a dozen police officers were captured and led
away by protesters to their camp in Independence Square.
Some protesters were waving flags and shouting: "Glory to
Ukraine!" Others were responding with a loud: "Glory to the
heroes!"
Police officials acknowledged that some officers were
taken prisoner but said they did not know the number.
The retreating police stopped and regrouped in
Grushevsky Street, where the government and parliament
buildings are located and which was the scene of many days
of violence in January.
At about 10 a.m., the fighting subsided and protesters began
building new barricades in the space they had captured in
the morning assault.
City medical authorities report dozens of injured, most with
gunshot wounds. Ambulance sirens could be heard coming from
different locations in central Kiev, a significant part of
which is in the hands of the protesters.
On Wednesday, the Ukraine Security Service announced the
beginning of an anti-terrorist operation after protesters
seized stored firearms from police stations and army
facilities they captured earlier in the week in western
Ukraine.
The death toll over the previous two days of clashes was 28,
city authorities said Thursday morning before the clashes
began. Hundreds were reported injured.
The situation has gone out of control with unknown
consequences for Ukraine, said Vadim Karasyov, director of
the Institute for Global Strategies, a Kiev-based think
tank.
“The opposition leaders seem no longer capable of
controlling the protesters, among whom there are a lot of
people with firearms now,” Karasyov told The Times. “On the
other hand, Yanukovich doesn't have enough resources to
crush the rebellion by force. There is only one way out for
him now: to leave Kiev for a safe place and call an early
presidential election.”
sergei.loiko@latimes.com
Special correspondent Victoria Butenko contributed to
this report.