Police captured, death toll rises as violence shatters Ukraine truce

Protesters have stormed police barricades in Kiev in renewed violence that has shattered an hours-old truce.

 THREE hours of fierce fighting in the Ukraine capital of Kiev has claimed at least 50 lives and shattered any hope of peace in the country being torn apart by a geopolitical battle between East and West. 

 
A truce negotiated between President Victor Yanukovych and Opposition parties was not even 24 hours old before protestors marched on police lines at the edge of their resistance zone in Independence Square armed with rocks and petrol bomb.

Perils of protest ... Demonstrators burn as they stand behind barricades during clashes with police on February 20 in Kiev. 

 

But the clash while violent turned deadly when police sharp shooters on roof tops fired on the crowd amid reports several police had been taken “hostage” in the clash. Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said 67 police had been captured and taken to city hall, the makeshift headquarters for protestors who claim there were no hostages but instead police decided to switch sides.

In God’s name ... A priest holds a cross and shield during clashes betwwen protesters and riot police in central Kiev on February 20. 

 

This morning (FRI AEST) both protestors and health authorities said the clash had left at least 80 people dead and 500 injured since Tuesday, many from single shot bullet wounds.

The final toll for yesterday could not be verified but at least 20 bodies had been dragged into the Ukraine Hotel in the centre of Kiev which was being used as a makeshift morgue. Another 20 died elsewhere and were taken away. It was confirmed 28 riot police were injured and three killed in the clash.

Tactics ... protesters advance to new positions in Kiev on February 20, 2014. Ukraine’s Interior Ministry says 67 police troops have been captured by protesters in Kiev. 

 

The shocking scene, beamed around the world, show protestors being cut down by gunfire and scrambling for cover behind makeshift barricades. Others covered in blood were being dragged away or carried on timber planks. Most of the dead were protestors but there were also medical staff shot.

Bodies lay on the ground surrounded by fellow anti-government protesters during the clashes. 

 

One of the wounded, volunteer medic Olesya Zhukovskaya, sent out a brief Twitter message — “I’m dying” — after being shot in the neck. Dr. Oleh Musiy, the medical coordinator for the protesters, said she was in serious condition after being operated on.

A city destroyed ... anti-government protesters clear debris following continued clashes with police in Independence Square.

 

Moscow meanwhile has issued a string of outraged comments condemning both the protesters and the West.

President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman placed all responsibility for the unprecedented violence on “extremists (whose) actions can be seen and are seen in Moscow exclusively as an attempted coup d’etat’’.

Detritus ... Cartridge shells litter the ground on Independence Square. It is unclear who had used the ammunition. Picture: Sergei Supinsky. 

 

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told Russia’s cabinet on Thursday that Moscow intended to follow through on its commitment to issue the next tranche of a $15 billion bailout that Putin and Yanukovych agreed shortly after Kiev rejected the EU pact.

A plea for peace ... A priest addresses police officers to try stop fighting near the Cabinet of Ministers in the centre of Kiev.

But Medvedev said Moscow needs ``partners who are in good shape and for the authorities that work in Ukraine to be legitimate and effective.’’

At the Winter Olympics in Russia’s resort of Sochi, a Ukrainian alpine skier and her coach pulled out of the games in protest at the authorities’ deadly use of force.