LA Times
Riot police take a break near Kiev's Independence Square Wednesday afternoon after two days of clashes with the opposition. (Sergei L. Loiko / Los Angeles Times)
KIEV,
Ukraine -- In the wake of violence that claimed 25 lives and left
hundreds injured, the Ukrainian government declared Wednesday that it
was launching "an anti-terrorist operation" that some feared would
escalate its conflict with pro-Western demonstrators.
“What is
happening today is a conscious use of violence by way of arson, murder,
hostage-taking and intimidation ... for the sake of pursuing criminal
goals,” the country's security agency chief, Alexander Yakimenko, said
in a statement published on the agency's website. “All of that with the
use of firearms. These are not just signs of terrorism but concrete
terrorist acts.
“By their actions, radical and extremist groups bear a real threat to lives of millions of Ukrainians,” his statement said.
Yakimenko's
statement followed two days of the worst violence the country has seen
during several months of political conflict over President Viktor
Yanukovich's decision to align Ukraine economically with Russia, not the
European Union.
Hours
after Yakimenko issued his warning, the Associated Press reported that
Yanukovich had fired the head of Ukraine's armed forces.
[Updated, 10:58 a.m. PST Feb. 19: The UNIAN news agency said the armed forces chief, Vladimir Zamanu, had been replaced by Yuri Ilyin.
One analyst said the move may have been prompted by Zamanu's reluctance to use the army against civilian demonstrators.
“The sudden switch can be explained by Yanukovich's desire to use the army in combating the growing
protests,”
Vadim Karasyov, head of the Institute of Global Strategies, a
Kiev-based think tank, said in an interview. “Zamanu has recently
hesitated to express readiness to get involved in helping to defuse the
political crisis.”
]
As dusk set over Independence
Square in central Kiev, several thousand protesters armed with sticks,
stones and Molotov cocktails faced hundreds of police armed with teargas
and stun grenades, water cannons and shotguns firing rubber bullets.
An
eerie fog descended on the square, where several thousand protesters
were praying together. At a square nearby, police buses arrived,
disgorging new units of riot police and interior troops, who joined
government forces positioned near Independence Square.
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Ukraine’s Yanukovich agrees ‘truce’ with opposition, start to negotiations
A portrait of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich burns near the
destroyed building of the security service in Lviv yesterday after a
night of violence when protesters seized public buildings and forced
police to surrender
Ukrainian
President Viktor Yanukovich said on Wednesday he had agreed a “truce”
with opposition leaders, after street violence in which at least 26
people were killed, and a start to negotiations to end further
bloodshed.
A statement on the presidential website said that
during talks with the three main opposition leaders, Yanukovich had
agreed firstly a truce and secondly “the start to negotiations with the
aim of ending bloodshed, and stabilising the situation in the state in
the interests of social peace.”
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Obama condemns Ukraine violence, threatens ‘consequences’ if clashes escalate
Published time: February 19, 2014 22:11
US President Barack Obama.(AFP Photo / Jewel Samad)
President
Barack Obama said the US “condemns in the strongest terms the violence”
in Ukraine, adding that the Ukrainian government must uphold the rights
of peaceful protesters. Obama said there would be consequences should
“people step over the line.”
“We expect the Ukrainian government to show restraint, to not resort to violence in dealing with peaceful protesters,” Obama said Wednesday from Mexico ahead of a summit with other North American leaders.
“We’ve also said that we expect peaceful protesters to remain peaceful.”
As Tuesday’s
riots and clashes
between protesters and police in Kiev continued into Wednesday, the
European Union announced that a rare meeting of its 28 member countries
would occur on Thursday to address what is to be done about the ongoing
violence, AP reported.
“We’ll be monitoring very carefully the
situation, recognizing that, along with our European partners and the
international community, there will be consequences if people step over
the line,” Obama said.
At least 26 people, including 10
police officers, have been killed and some 800 injured since the start
of violent riots in Kiev on Tuesday. The most recent, deadliest wave of
violence in Ukraine started with an attempt by radical protesters to
storm the building of the Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada), which
prompted fierce clashes with police. Several buildings in central Kiev –
including the office of the Party of Regions – were stormed, looted,
and set on fire.
At least 426 people have sought medical help
following the clashes in Kiev, the city’s health department said. There
are currently 277 people being treated in hospitals for injuries,
including gunshot wounds and burns.
Despite the fierce battles on
Independence Square (Maidan) and the possibility of further violence in
coming days, Obama said the US and its partners would watch vigilantly
to make
“sure the Ukrainian military does not step to what should be a set of issues that can be resolved by civilians.”
Reuters / David Mdzinarishvili
Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have
“agreed to continue to do everything so that there is no escalation of violence” in Ukraine, Merkel said, as quoted by Reuters. The German Chancellor spoke with the Russian president over the phone.
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