BBC NEWS,
Protesters in Ukraine have stormed the Kiev city council building, venting their anger over a government decision not to sign a deal on closer EU ties.
Police are massing outside the building in preparation for retaking it.
Tens of thousands of people have been marching to Kiev's Independence Square, defying a ban imposed a day earlier.
Protesters want the resignation of the government and new elections. President Viktor Yanukovych says Russian pressure was behind his decision not to sign.
The BBC's David Stern in the Ukrainian capital reports from outside the city council head office that protesters broke windows to get inside the building.
They chanted "Kiev is ours" and hung a Ukrainian flag in the window.
Ambulances were pulling up outside the building and there was an acrid smell of smoke, our reporter said.
Mr Yanukovych's headquarters, about a kilometre away, were also targetted by demonstrators who commandeered a bulldozer to try to break through police line, Reuters news agency reports.
Police used tear gas to force the crowd back.
The protests started more than a week ago after President Yanukovych suspended preparations for signing an EU association agreement that would have opened borders to goods and set the stage for an easing of travel restrictions.
Mr Yanukovych argued that Ukraine could not afford to sacrifice trade with Russia, which opposed the deal.
The Ukrainian president has said he is "deeply outraged" by events at opposition protests in Kiev.
He was speaking after police violently dispersed an opposition camp on Saturday. Several Western countries condemned the police intervention.
Jailed opposition leader and ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko earlier urged Ukrainians "not to leave the authorities' actions unanswered".
She has been on hunger strike since Monday over the failure to sign the EU agreement.
No comments:
Post a Comment