Tuesday, 18 February 2014

Ukraine Protests turn Deadly

 Protesters fight with riot police during a new wave of violent clashes Tuesday, February 18, in Kiev, Ukraine. Thousands of anti-government demonstrators have packed the capital's Independence Square since November, when President Viktor Yanukovych reversed a decision to sign a trade deal with the European Union and instead turned toward Russia.

Kiev, Ukraine (CNN) -- At least six people died Tuesday in protests in Kiev, officials said.
The casualties occurred after protesters set fire to the headquarters of the ruling Party of Regions and as violence roiled the capital for the first time in more than two weeks.

The opposition confirmed five of the deaths -- three near parliament and two near a metro station; the Interior Ministry said a policeman died in an ambulance en route to a hospital.

Earlier, an opposition member of Ukraine's parliament told CNN that three protesters had died and seven others were seriously injured during protests Tuesday in Kiev.

Speaking from the protesters' medical facility outside the parliament building, Olesya Orobets said ambulances had been barred from the area.

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry said that more than 47 people -- at least seven of them police officers -- were hurt in Tuesday's clashes; the protesters' medical service put that figure at more than 150.

The prosecutor general said in a statement that at least 100 people had been hurt.

In a statement, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen called on all parties "to refrain from violence and to urgently resume dialogue, including through the parliamentary process.

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