Ukrainians Called to Streets After Government Crackdown (1)
Ukrainian politicians opposed to
President Viktor Yanukovych called on supporters to gather in
downtown Kyiv at noon tomorrow after the government violently
dispersed a protest last night.
Some 40 people were injured when Ukrainian police began
breaking up the rally on Independence Square after midnight,
prompting opposition leaders to call for Interior Minister
Vitaliy Zakharchenko’s resignation. At least 1,000 protesters
regrouped near a monastery at Mykhailivska Square, also in
downtown Kyiv.
People took to the streets to protest Yanukovych’s decision
to reject a possible Association Agreement with the European
Union in favor of closer ties with Russia. Russia may be
offering $15 billion in loans, debt restructuring and asset
purchases to persuade Ukraine’s leadership not to proceed with
the EU deal, weekly magazine Zerkalo Nedeli reported.
“After the EU agreement wasn’t signed, Yanukovych decided
he can do anything,” boxing champion Vitali Klitschko said at a
press conference with two other opposition politicians in Kyiv
today. “We will do everything so that the people responsible
for this, the president, the interior minister and the police,
are held to account.”
Zakharchenko will leave his post to become chief of
Yanukovych’s administration, Ukraine’s Radio Svoboda said today,
citing unidentified police officials. First Deputy Interior
Minister Viktor Dubovik will replace him as chief of the
country’s police, according to the report.
Western Support
Yanukovych spokeswoman Darka Chepak and Vitaliy Lukyanenko,
a spokesman for Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, didn’t answer
calls to their mobile phones.
“We are waiting for support from the West, not in words
but in deeds,” Arseniy Yatsenyuk, an opposition lawmaker, said
at the press conference, adding that seven of last night’s
protesters were hospitalized. Opposition groups agreed to create
a national resistance headquarters and prepare for a nationwide
strike, he said.
U.S. President Barack Obama’s spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, said
in an e-mailed statement, “The United States condemns the
violence by government authorities against peaceful
demonstrators.”
“We continue to support the aspirations of the Ukrainian
people to achieve a prosperous European democracy,” Psaki said.
Carl Bildt, Sweden’s foreign minister, said he feared that
Yanukovych had “decided on a policy of repression,” putting
Ukraine in “extreme danger,” according to a post on his
Twitter Inc. account.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Kateryna Choursina in Kyiv at
kchoursina@bloomberg.net;
Scott Rose in Moscow at
rrose10@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Balazs Penz at
bpenz@bloomberg.net