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 A group of young masked demonstrators attacked a cordon of police
with sticks and tried to overturn a bus blocking their way to the
parliament building after opposition politicians called on people to
disregard the new legislation.
Despite appeals from opposition leaders not to resort to violence,
and a personal intervention from boxer-turned-politician Vitaly
Klitschko, protesters continued to throw smoke bombs and hurl
fireworks and other objects at police.
The police appeared to show restraint during that fracas. The
Interior Ministry said 30 police were hurt, including more than 10
admitted to hospital and four in serious condition.
A spokeswoman for Klitschko tweeted that President Viktor Yanukovich
had agreed to meet Klitschko immediately at the presidential
residence outside Kiev, although there was no confirmation from
Yanukovich's side.
Klitschko later tweeted that the president had agreed to set up a
committee on Monday to settle the political crisis.
As tensions continued into the night, police used water cannon
against demonstrators gathered near the parliament building and the
heavily protected government headquarters, eyewitnesses said.
Earlier, some distance away from the clashes, up to 100,000
Ukrainians massed on Kiev's Independence Square in defiance of the
sweeping new laws, which ban rallies and which Washington and other
Western capitals have denounced as undemocratic.
In Washington, the White House said it was "deeply concerned" about
the violence on Sunday in Kiev and urged both sides to "de-escalate
the situation."
"The increasing tension in Ukraine is a direct consequence of the
government failing to acknowledge the legitimate grievances of its
people," National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said
in a statement. "Instead, it has moved to weaken the foundations of
Ukraine's democracy by criminalizing peaceful protest and stripping
civil society and political opponents of key democratic protections
under the law."
Urging the Ukraine government to repeal the "anti-democratic
legislation," withdraw riot police from downtown Kiev and begin a
dialogue with the opposition, Hayden added, "The U.S. will continue
to consider additional steps — including sanctions — in response to
the use of violence."
The rally, the biggest of the new year, was the latest in a cycle of
public protests in the former Soviet republic since Yanukovich made
a policy U-turn in November away from the European Union towards
Russia, Ukraine's former Soviet overlord.
Several big protests in December attracted hundreds of thousands of
people, while thousands maintained a vigil in a Kiev square
demanding Yanukovich resign. Since the new year demonstrations have
become smaller, but hundreds of people are still camping in the
square and 50,000 turned out a week ago.
COURT BAN
The court ban on protests published on Wednesday, and last
Thursday's legislation aimed at prohibiting all form of public
protests, have inflamed tensions again.
The laws ban any unauthorized installation of tents, stages or use
of loudspeakers in public.
Heavy jail sentences were imposed for participation in "mass
disorder" and the wearing of face-masks or protective helmets.
Dissemination of "extremist" or libelous information about the
country's leaders was outlawed.
In a gesture of scorn for the helmet ban, many protesters on Sunday
wore saucepans and colanders on their heads.
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The crisis has highlighted a divide in the country of 46 million
people between those, particularly in Russian-speaking eastern
areas, who identify more closely with a shared past with Russia, and
those, especially in the Ukrainian-speaking parts of
western and central Ukraine, who look westwards.
Opposition leaders announced an action plan to gather people's
signatures expressing no confidence in the leadership of Yanukovich
and parliament.
Denouncing as unconstitutional last Thursday's hurried vote in
parliament by Yanukovich loyalists, they called for moves to set up
a parallel structure of power — including a people's assembly and a
new constitution.
"Yanukovich and his henchmen want to steal our country. Ukraine is
united as never before in its struggle against those in power today,
in its determination not to allow a dictatorship," Klitschko, the
strongest potential challenger for the presidency, told the crowds
on Independence Square.
CALLS FOR RESTRAINT
Opposition leaders were at pains to urge protesters not to resort to
action that would provide a pretext for a crackdown.
When clashes broke out about 500 meters (yards) from Independence
Square, Klitschko went to the scene and sought to persuade
protesters to refrain from attacking police.
"Stop your actions," he called to groups of young people — some of
them masked. "We are a peaceful protest." Protesters sprayed a
powder fire extinguisher at police, catching Klitschko whose face
was covered in white.
As police later appeared to be readying to take a tougher line
against protesters, he tweeted: "Viktor Yanukovich, do not go down
the same road as (late Romanian dictator Nicolae) Ceausescu and
(late Libyan leader Muammar) Gaddafi. Stop conducting war on the
citizens of Ukraine."
Arseny Yatsenyuk, another opposition leader, told the crowds on
Independence Square, "Our victory is not in using physical violence
but in moral and spiritual strength."
Although setting up an alternative power structure may not be
realistic, Sunday's turnout suggested it could also be difficult for
the authorities to try to solve the crisis by use of force despite
the court ban and the new laws.
Another opposition leader, far-right-nationalist Oleh Tyahnibok,
dismissed the laws as unconstitutional as he spoke from the tribune
on Kiev's main Independence Square.
"So we have a right not to carry them out and we will sabotage
them," he said.
Yanukovich triggered the pro-Europe rallies when he did an
about-turn last November and ditched a free trade deal with the
European Union in favour of closer economic ties with Russia.
Russia has since thrown Ukraine a $15 billion lifeline in credits as
well as a softer deal for purchases of strategic supplies of natural
gas.
(Additional reporting by Mark Felsenthal in Washington;
writing By
Richard Balmforth; editing by Peter Graff and Peter Cooney)
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