Protesters in Ukraine call for revolution
Viktor Yanukovich, Ukraine’s president, was under escalating pressure on Sunday night as hundreds of thousands of protesters poured onto the streets of Kiev demanding the overthrow of his government, after it sought to strengthen relations with Russia at the expense of the EU. With the number of protesters estimated to have peaked at some 350,000, the demonstrations mark the largest public gatherings since the 2004 pro-democracy Orange Revolution. Many called for a new "revolution" to end the president’s "bandit regime". Most people venting their anger against the government were peaceful but eyewitnesses reported that a large group of protesters had tried to use a tractor to break through police lines around the presidential building. Security forces responded with tear gas and flash grenades. Protesters took over two floors of the Kiev city government building and were using it as a base. On Saturday riot police crushed protests by pro-EU activists against the president’s decision last week to back out of historic EU integration agreements, and instead seek closer ties with Moscow. The deal with Europe was widely seen as a way to entrench democratic values and longer-term economic prosperity in Ukraine. Following the police crackdown, the EU issued a statement "strongly condemning" "the excessive use of force last night by the police in Kiev to disperse peaceful protesters, who over the last days in a strong and unprecedented manner have expressed their support for Ukraine’s political association and economic integration with the EU". In Kiev, huge crowds converged on the capital’s main streets, chanting "Out with the bandits, and Glory to Ukraine". Yury Lutsenko, one of the protest leaders and a former interior minister who was imprisoned for two years after Mr Yanukovich took over as president in 2010, addressed the crowds saying: "This is no longer a demonstration. This is a revolution. Our objective is clear now." "The Soviet Socialist Republic of Ukraine dies today," he added. "This is its funeral." Crowds chanted back: "Revolution, Revolution". Arseniy Yatseniuk, former foreign minister, called for the protesters to leave the area around the presidential building saying the violence there was sparked by provocateurs allied to Mr Yanukovich. "We know that the president wants to hold a national security and defence council meeting to call a state of emergency," Mr Yatseniuk said. A government spokesperson quoted by Interfax-Ukraine news agency said the situation in the capital was under control. There were no confirmed reports about the whereabouts of Mr Yanukovich, who was due to fly to China on an offical visit on Monday, The Ukrainian president is under fire for his centralisation of power, for the jailing of opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko and for widespread corruption. His spokesmen did not respond to requests for comment. But speaking on condition of anonymity, several government advisers conceded he could be toppled. "The next few days will be critical, clearly," said Timothy Ash, an analyst at Standard Bank. "The opposition appear to now have momentum on their side and will aim to use this to their advantage. Yanukovich faces the choice of either trying to re-impose control through the use of the security services or police, or negotiation." The protesters in the capital were in no doubt that Mr Yanukovich should stand down. "This is a revolution," said 43-year-old housewife Iryna Tomashenko, standing in a massive crowd of youths, parents and pensioners in Independence Square and along Khreshchatyk, Kiev’s main avenue. "We have a beautiful nation with good people. Yanukovich must go. He sent the police to beat our children. Shame on him. We’ll take him down," she added. "It’s time to oust this regime, bring our country back towards democracy and Europe," said Denis Denisenko, a Kiev resident. On Sunday morning, Vitaly Zakharchenko, a Yanukovich loyalist who heads the Interior Ministry, called for calm, warning that instability could bring bloodshed and chaos. "What bloody war? What, we want to go the way of Libya and Tunis? If there will be calls for massive upheaval, we will react," Mr Zakharchenko warned. There was no mass police presence in downtown Kiev where the majority of the crowds gathered. But thousands of riot police were deployed to protect the presidential office and government buildings. Mykola Azarov, prime minister, urged citizens on Sunday to avoid upheaval, warning that it would hurt the country’s already ailing economy and currency stability. Stepan Havrysh, a political commentator and former deputy national security chief, said in an afternoon television interview: "The people’s peaceful demonstrations have transformed into a revolutionary state." "There is no more trust in the president" from the people or his political allies, Mr Havrysh added, saying that a handful of once loyal lawmakers were leaving his party. He predicted that the president would probably lose his majority in parliament within days. Mykhailo Volynets, leader of Ukraine’s independent coalminers’ union which has a big membership in Mr Yanukovich’s heartland of industrial eastern Ukraine, said a split in the country was unlikely. "People in eastern Ukraine are also very disillusioned in Mr Yanukovich and his ways. They are not getting their salaries on time. They are tired of this oppression. They won’t stand up for him," he said.