BBC News
Anti-government protesters have regrouped in the Ukrainian capital Kiev hours after being forcefully dispersed.
Around 1,000 have converged on St Michael's cathedral to continue opposing a government decision not to sign a deal with the European Union.
A former minister said the political opposition was setting up a national resistance headquarters and preparing to call a nationwide strike.
Ukraine refused to sign the EU deal after apparent pressure from Russia.
At the end of a summit in the Lithuanian capital on Friday, EU leaders warned they would not tolerate Russian interference in the bloc's relations with former Soviet republics.
The summit reached provisional accords with Georgia and Moldova.
Protest organiser Sergei Milnichenko said tear gas had been used as police moved in at about 04:30 (02:30 GMT) on Saturday to disperse protesters gathered in Independence Square.
A number of people had been hurt.
Police said they had decided to clear Independence Square after "a number of incidents", Interfax Ukraine news agency reported.
It was not clear what incidents they were referring to.
"It was horrible. We were holding a peaceful demonstration and they attacked us," said protester Lada Tromada.
"They threw us away like garbage."
One activist, opposition MP Andriy Shevchenko, tweeted that dozens of people had been hurt and at least 33 taken into police custody.
The US Ambassador to Kiev, Geoffrey Pyatt, said he was "still working to understand what happened".
He said he "obviously" condemned the violence against peaceful demonstrators, adding: "Will have more to say."
Police have now surrounded the square.
'Foreign pressure'
Last week, President Yanukovych said he was suspending preparations for signing an EU association agreement that would have opened borders to goods and set the stage for an easing of travel restrictions.
He said pressure from Russia had led him to make his decision. Mr Yanukovych argued that Ukraine could not afford to sacrifice trade with Russia, which opposed the deal.
EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy said the parties had been "really close" to signing the association agreement in Vilnius, but added: "We need to overcome pressure from abroad."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the door would always remain open for Ukraine.
Independence Square was the scene of the Orange Revolution in 2004, which saw Mr Yanukovych ousted and a Western-leaning government brought to power.
Mr Yanukovych was elected president five years later, narrowly defeating then-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, a leading figure of the Orange Revolution.
In 2011 she was sentenced to seven years in jail for abuse of office - a case widely criticised in the West as political revenge.
Ms Tymoshenko has been on hunger strike since Monday over the failure to sign the EU agreement.
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