Flames of hate in Kiev: 25 DEAD as Ukrainian protesters armed with rocks, Molotov cocktails and even crossbows clash with police

Pitched battles between armed riot police and anti-government protesters hurling petrol bombs left at least 25 dead and over 240 injured in the Ukrainian capital Kiev on Tuesday night.

Nine officers and at least 14 demonstrators died amid the carnage in Independence Square after a planned parliamentary debate to curb the sweeping powers enjoyed by pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovych was delayed.

According to the Health ministry, 241 people have been left with injuries needing hospital treatment, including 79 policemen and five journalists.

Camera footage showed appalling acts of violence – including activists throwing riot officers out of a police van and a protester fleeing the fighting engulfed in flames.

Around 20,000 protestors fought against police officers, armed with rocks, bats and fire bombs, and singing 'Glory to Ukraine'. Horrifying pictures also showed several floors of a trade union building, used as an anti-government headquarters, had been set on fire.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

Fireworks explode amid flames during clashes between anti-government protesters and riot police at Kiev's Independence Square

Riot: Fires on the Independence Square in downtown Kiev

Independence Square resembled a battle zone as protesters clashed with police

Deadly: Smoke streams from the centre of the protest camp in Kiev's Independence Square after a surge by riot police who set tents alight

Unrest: A general view shows clashes at Independence Square in Kiev. Ukrainian riot police charged protesters occupying the central Kiev square early on Wednesday after the bloodiest day since the former Soviet republic, caught in a geopolitical struggle between Russia and the West, won its independence.

Monuments to Kiev's founders burn as anti-government protesters clash with riot police in Kiev's Independence Square. Thousands of police armed with stun grenades and water cannons attacked the large opposition camp in Ukraine's capital on Tuesday that has been the centre of nearly three months of anti-government protests after at least nine people were killed in street clashes.

Darkness: Anti-government protesters take cover behind shields during clashes with riot police at Independence Square

Hell on Earth: Anti-government protesters guard the perimeter of Independence Square, known as Maidan, on Wednesday in Kiev, Ukraine. After several weeks of calm, violence has again flared between police and anti-government protesters, who are calling for the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych over corruption and an abandoned trade agreement with the European Union.

Explosion: A firework exploded in the middle of the square. Police have begun trying to push back anti-government demonstrators

The violent clashes carried on into the evening. Thousands of officers armed with stun guns and water cannons attacked an opposition camp earlier in the day

Protest: Anti-government demonstrators guard the perimeter of Independence Square, known as Maidan, in Kiev, Ukraine. After several weeks of calm, violence has again flared between police and anti-government protesters, who are calling for the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych over corruption and an abandoned trade agreement with the European Union.

Yanukovych blamed opposition leaders for the latest increase of violence and, after failed overnight talks with the opposition, urged its leaders to 'distance themselves from radical forces', saying it was 'not too late to stop the conflict'.

In a statement published online early Wednesday, Yanukovych said that he had already made several attempts to compromise, but that opposition leaders 'crossed a line when they called people to arms'.

Yanukovych said opposition leaders had to 'draw a boundary between themselves and radical forces', or else 'acknowledge that they are supporting radicals. Then the conversation... will already be of a different kind'.

Massed forces: Anti-government protesters clash with riot police in Kiev

Anti-government demonstrators stand on barricades during clashes with riot police

Carnage: Anti-government demonstrators stand among the smoke of burning barricades

Clashes left 25 people dead and over 240 needing hospital treatment

Injured: Anti-government protesters left covered in blood after clashing with police

Terrified: A anti-government protester is engulfed in flames while running from the scene in Kiev's Independence Square

Stun grenades, tear gas, baton rounds and water cannon failed to hold tens of thousands of angry pro-European protesters back from government buildings and the president’s Party of the Regions office was set ablaze.

At least 150 demonstrators were injured and it was claimed that  13 police officers suffered gunshot wounds.
 

Field hospitals treated scores of wounded across the city. After a 6pm deadline to clear the centre was ignored, troops with Kalashnikov rifles were deployed and the authorities vowed ‘grave actions’ to counter the worst day of turmoil in four months of political unrest. Riot police later stormed the protest camp in the square, leaving it in flames as opposition leaders continued making defiant speeches.

Nationwide protests against Mr Yanukovych began in November after he bowed to pressure from Russia and pulled out of a planned trade agreement  with the EU.

Fired up: After several weeks of calm in Kiev, Ukraine, violence has again flared between police and anti-government protesters, who are calling for the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych over corruption and an abandoned trade agreement with the European Union.

Bleak scenes: Hundreds of riot police, armed with large shields, surround the protest camp in Independence Square. Many of the protestor's tents were set alight

As darkness fell, the fires still raged in the Ukrainian capital as the violence continued

Heavily armed: Officers had rifles aimed and ready behind improvised barricades in the square

Line of defence: Shields up, a group of riot policemen approach the protestors

Victims: Two dead bodies lay covered on the ground as the clashes between police and anti-government protestors intensifies

Cornered: Wounded protesters are detained by riot police away from the scene, despite the fact they are covered in blood and badly injured

Treatment: Interior Ministry members lean against a kiosk with bandages wrapped around their injured heads

Defiance: Protestors stand in the middle of a street that has been ravaged by fire

Child: A young anti-government protestor dons makeshift armour as he walks in front of cars that have been set alight

An anti-government protester prepares to throw a Molotov cocktail during clashes with riot police outside Ukraine's parliament in Kiev

Support: An injured man is helped by anti-government protestors during the violent clashes

Siege: Riot police encircle the camp constructed by the protesters around three months ago

View: The scale of the damage caused to the sprawling camp has increased as the demonstrations have intensified

Burning: Riot police stand firm as Molotov cocktails and fireworks are launched at them

A protester with a crossbow is pictured near Kiev city hall during deadly clashes with police

Riot police protect themselves from fire during continuing protests near the Ukrainian parliament in Kiev

Protesters set fire to vehicles and threw rocks at police, who responded by firing rubber bullets and stun and smoke grenades from trucks and from the tops of buildings

Three protesters were killed in the disturbances, the opposition reported, and emergency workers found another person dead after a fire at the ruling party's office in Kiev

Bandaged: Riot police stand over wounded people, while one officer talks to a bystander

Injured: People walk away from the violent clashes covered in wounds

Chaos: Two men carry a wounded people away from the violence as demonstrators continued to clash with riot police

Instead, he accepted a £9billion Kremlin bailout for the former Soviet republic’s heavily-indebted economy. Many now fear Ukraine is on the brink of a bloody civil war.

Prosecutor-General Viktor Pshonka warned that opposition leaders such as former world boxing champion Klitschko face severe punishment for ‘threatening the lives and well-being of millions’.

'We will not go anywhere from here,' Mr Klitschko told the crowd, speaking from a stage in the square. 'This is an island of freedom and we will defend it,' he added.

The US, EU and Nato have pleaded with Yanukovych to step back from using force to end the protests engulfing Kiev and other cities. Moscow said the violence was a ‘direct result of connivance by Western politicians’.

Western sources in turn accuse Russian president Vladimir Putin of pulling the strings with his ally Yanukovych. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said that she was ‘deeply worried about the grave new escalation’.

'We see that this regime again has begun shooting people; they want to sink Ukraine in blood. We will not give in to a single provocation,' opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk told the protesters. 'We will not take one step back from this square. We have nowhere to retreat to. Ukraine is behind us, Ukraine's future is behind us.'

Justice Minister Olena Lukash, a close Yanukovych aide, accused the opposition of violating earlier agreements with the government and blamed protest leaders for the violence.

Ukraine's law enforcement agencies have set a deadline for protesters to end street clashes with police in Kiev, and have vowed to restore order


An Orthodox priest stands near the bodies of three protesters who, according to the opposition in Ukraine, were killed in clashes with police in Kiev, in a picture handed out by Right Sector, a radical nationalist group (left). Ukrainian opposition leader Vitaly Klitschko (right) holds a stretcher while transporting a victim of the clashes

The protesters had marched to the parliament building to press the opposition leaders' calls for Yanukovich to relinquish what they call his 'dictatorial' powers and particularly his control of the economy and the security forces

An anti-government protester holds a Molotov cocktail outside an office of the Party of the Regions in Kiev

Ukraine's Security Service and the Interior Ministry issued a joint statement Tuesday, saying that if 'disorders' do not stop by 6pm (4pm GMT), the authorities will restore order

Clashes raged for several hours outside the parliament building, where opposition lawmaker Lesya Orobets said three demonstrators were killed and taken to a nearby officers' club used as a medical centre. More than 100 people were injured, she said

A protester uses a slingshot during clashes with police in Kiev

Earlier in the day, protesters stormed the office of the president's Party of Regions, but police pushed them away. When firefighters arrived to put out a fire, they discovered the body of an office employee, Kiev's emergency services said in a statement.

The renewed clashes piled more pressure on President Viktor Yanukovich to strike a deal with the opposition to reduce his presidential powers and defuse a 12-week crisis that has turned Kiev city centre into a fortified camp of resistance.

Two days earlier, protesters left a government building they had been occupying in Kiev after the release of scores of jailed activists.

Opposition parties have accused President Viktor Yankovych's party of refusing to put a constitutional reform bill on the agenda.

Klitschko called on Yanukovych to agree to the reforms and to call early elections or face a serious escalation of the crisis.

Hundreds of protesters have clashed with police outside the Ukrainian parliament after being stopped from marching to the building

Officers used tear gas and stun grenades during the confrontation with protesters which erupted after a discussion on constitutional reform that would decrease the president's powers was delayed

An anti-government protester reacts as he stands in front of Interior Ministry officers' lines during clashes in Kiev. Hundreds of protesters clashed with police as the opposition claimed the government was stalling on discussing the changes

'We are talking minutes, not hours,' Klitschko told reporters in parliament.

He also urged the President to take riot police off the streets to head off further 'conflict in society'.

He said: 'I am appealing to the president. Take the Berkut (Ukrainian riot police) and interior forces off the streets. Do this and it will provide a way out. It will be the decision of a real man.'

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton voiced deep concern today about the escalating violence in Ukraine and called on the country's leadership to tackle the crisis.

'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,' she said in a statement.

'I urge the leadership of Ukraine to address the root causes of the crisis... Political leaders must now assume their shared responsibility to rebuild trust and create the conditions for an effective solution to the political crisis,' she said.

Three protesters have died in clashes with police outside the parliament building in central Kiev, according to a Ukrainian opposition party politician

Protesters place barricades while tyres burn in the background during clashes with police in Kiev

Britain's Europe Minister David Lidington meanwhile has called for calm followed by 'urgent and genuine steps' to  address the causes of discontent.

He said: 'I am appalled by today’s reports of serious violence and deaths in Kiev. This has no place in a European democracy which is also an important member of the OSCE and Council of Europe.

'I condemn the violence and urge all sides to immediately de-escalate the situation. The last few days have shown some progress, with the release of detained protesters and the withdrawal of protesters from the Kyiv City Council building. This was a step in the right direction, and I urge all parties to return to the path of compromise and genuine negotiation.

'Ukraine needs to see a return to stability that allows the government to tackle the underlying causes of the protests: corruption, impunity, and the lack of checks and balances within the current governmental system. 

There must be an absolute commitment to the rule of law, as well as respect for fundamental human rights and civil freedoms.

Protesters set fire to two trucks blocking a street near the parliament building while law enforcers retaliated with stun grenades and fired what appeared to be small metal balls, as smoke from burning tyres billowed over central Kiev

Interior Ministry members take cover behind shields during clashes with anti-government protesters in Kiev
 

'The time is right for the lawmakers of the Verkhovna Rada to back a serious and committed effort to form a new government that can command the respect of all Ukrainians. One which has a credible agenda to introduce the reforms required to tackle the acute economic and political challenges Ukraine is facing.

'
US Vice President Joe Biden called Ukraine's president, Viktor Yanukovich, to express his grave concern at the escalating violence and to urge him to pull back government forces and exercise maximum restraint.

Biden made clear to Yanukovich 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.

'The vice president further underscored the urgency of immediate dialogue with opposition leaders to address protesters' legitimate grievances and to put forward serious proposals for political reform,' the statement said.
It said the United States is committed to supporting efforts to promote a peaceful resolution to the crisis in a way that "reflects the will and aspirations of the Ukrainian people."

Poland's foreign ministry meanwhile has summoned Ukraine's deputy ambassador to express its concern after a stand-off between the authorities and opposition protesters in Kiev turned violent, a ministry spokesman said.

The spokesman, Marcin Wojciechowski, said in a Twitter post the deputy ambassador was summoned because the ambassador is in Ukraine.

'We strongly condemn violence in Kiev and call both sides of the conflict in Ukraine for immediate dialogue. Compromise (is) the only solution,' Wojciechowski said.

The protesters had marched to the parliament building to press the opposition leaders' calls for Yanukovich to relinquish what they call his 'dictatorial' powers and particularly his control of the economy and the security forces.

The renewed clashes piled more pressure on President Viktor Yanukovich to strike a deal with the opposition to reduce his presidential powers and defuse a 12-week crisis that has turned Kiev city centre into a fortified camp of resistance

But when they were blocked by a line of trucks about 100 metres from the building, they hurled stones at police, a Reuters witness said, and set three trucks ablaze with petrol bombs.

As the clashes extended into early afternoon, protesters ransacked a nearby office of Yanukovich's Party of the Regions.

Ukrainian opposition leader Vitaly Klitschko has made an impassioned plea to President Viktor Yanukovich not to send in police to break up a peaceful protest on Kiev's Independence Square after a day of violence in other parts of the city.

Speaking on the square, the focal point of 12 weeks of unrest against Yanukovich that is known locally as the Maidan, Klitschko urged women and children to leave the area, saying: 'We cannot exclude the possibility of use of force in an assault on the Maidan.'

'We appeal to the president and security forces to end violent confrontation,' he said.

The world champion boxer, who has become a politician, later arrived at Yanukovich's office for late night talks, Klitschko's spokeswoman said. He and another opposition leader, former economy minister Arseny Yatsenyuk, were still waiting to see the president an hour later, she added.

The protests erupted in November after Yanukovych shelved a long-planned treaty with the European Union and sought financial help from Moscow. After several protest rallies were violently dispersed, the demonstrations turned into a broader human rights, anti-corruption movement.

An opposition lawmaker said three bodies of protesters, killed in clashes with police, were lying in the 'Officers Club' building which is about 100 metres from parliament

Yanukovych still remains popular in the Russian-speaking eastern and southern regions of the country, where economic and cultural ties with Russia are strong.

Russia's finance minister told state news agencies on Monday that Moscow will provide a fresh cash injection to Ukraine after several weeks of stalled payments to Kiev.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele said he had spoken to Ukraine's acting prime minister, who had given assurances that the authorities would try to avoid using live firearms.

'For the sake of the Ukrainians and for the sake of the future of that country, I will pray that he is right,' Fuele told a public event in Brussels.

A police spokeswoman gave a variety of reasons for the deaths including gunshot wounds, a traffic accident and heart attacks. One protester died in a fire.

Right Sector, a militant far-right group, added to tensions by calling on people holding weapons to go to Independence Square, also known as Maidan, to protect it from the security forces.

As protesters and police battled on the streets of Kiev, Russia called the escalation a 'direct result of connivance by Western politicians and European structures that have shut their eyes ... to the aggressive actions of radical forces'.

Germany's foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, telephoned his Ukrainian counterpart to warn against sliding back into violence and to urge the government to keep working for a political solution.

'News of a fresh escalation of violence is alarming. We are shocked to hear of the dead and injured today,' Steinmeier said in a statement, raising the possibility of EU sanctions against Ukrainian leaders.

'Those responsible for taking any decisions that lead to the further spilling of blood must know that the reserve Europe has shown in terms of personal sanctions will be reconsidered,' he added.