Police Storm Barricades In Kyiv
Riot police in Ukraine have stormed makeshift barricades and chased protesters away from the site of violent clashes in the center of Kyiv.
Pitched battles continued in the streets, however, with protesters throwing stones and petrol bombs and police firing tear gas and rubber bullets and beating protesters with truncheons. Police also brought in an armored personnel carrier, as the sky was blackened by smoke from tires set alight by protesters.
Riot police earlier on January 22 tried to storm the barricades but were pushed back by protesters.
The renewed violence came as two men were confirmed dead of gunshot wounds.
Activists said the men were shot dead by police. One of the victims was identified as Serhiy Nihoyan, a 20-year-old ethnic Armenian.
A medic, Ihor Petrovich, said one of the men had died shortly after he was brought into their makeshift hospital.
“[The cause of his death], according to the preliminary conclusion, are bullet wounds in the neck area, in the back of his head, and in the right side of the chest, the area of lungs.”
The Interior Ministry said police did not use live ammunition.
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A third protester reportedly died after falling from the top of a ceremonial entrance to the Dynamo Kyiv football stadium, adjacent to the clashes.
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European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso warned Ukraine of “possible action” in response to the violence.
The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv said that Washington had revoked the visas of “several Ukrainians” linked to violence against protesters last year. The embassy did not name the individuals.
The site of the January 22 clashes is not far from Kyiv’s Independence Square, where antigovernment protesters have rallied peacefully for more more than two months.
The protests were triggered by President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision in late November to pull back from an agreement on closer ties with the European Union.
New legislation that came into effect on January 22 significantly increases fines and imposes jail terms for Ukrainians found guilty of unauthorized street protests.