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As Deaths Rise in Kiev, So Do Fears Ukraine Will Use Troops Ukraine Crisis Worsens With Biggest Death Toll So Far
(about 4 hours later)
KIEV, Ukraine — Ukraine descended into a deeper spiral of violence on Thursday as both protesters and riot police officers used firearms in the deadliest day so far, and fear intensified that President Viktor F. Yanukovych would declare a state of emergency, a move that could herald the deployment of the military. KIEV, Ukraine — Security forces fired on masses of antigovernment demonstrators in central Kiev on Thursday in a drastic escalation of the three-month-old Ukraine crisis that left the country reeling from the most lethal violence since Soviet times. The opposition said at least 70 and as many as 100 people were killed in the gunfire.
The former Soviet republic of 46 million hurtled toward a dangerous new phase in a three-month political crisis after a truce announced overnight by Mr. Yanukovych and opposition leaders collapsed amid accusations of treachery on both sides. The shootings punctuated a traumatic day of mayhem that followed a quickly shattered truce, with enraged protesters who paraded dozens of captured police officers through Kiev’s central square. Despite a frenzy of East-West diplomacy and negotiations, there was little sign that tensions were easing.
The Kiev municipal health authorities reported that 39 people had been killed on Thursday, bringing the total number of dead in three days of mayhem to at least 67. There were unconfirmed accounts that 70 protesters in Kiev had been killed and hundreds wounded on Thursday by gunfire in a confrontation with the police. Either figure made Thursday the deadliest day in the conflict to date. President Viktor F. Yanukovych lost at least a dozen political allies including the mayor of the capital, who resigned from his governing Party of Regions to protest the bloodshed. Mr. Yanukovych conferred with three foreign ministers from the European Union who had come to press for a compromise solution, practically within sight of the main conflict zone in downtown Kiev. Municipal authorities put the daily death toll at 39.
Short of calling in troops it looked unlikely that Mr. Yanukovych could restore his battered authority and regain control of the capital, Kiev, as a growing number of once-loyal members of his ruling Party of Regions, including the mayor of Kiev, announced they were quitting the party to protest the bloodshed. There were signs late Thursday that Mr. Yanukovych might be moving closer to compromise, apparently expressing willingness to hold presidential and parliamentary elections this year, as the opposition has demanded. But given the hostility and mutual mistrust on both sides, aggravated by the deadly mayhem that has engulfed central Kiev, the prospects of any agreement seemed remote — particularly now that many of the president’s adversaries say they will settle for nothing less than his immediate resignation.
About the only thing that was entirely clear by Thursday afternoon was that protesters had reclaimed and even expanded territory in the center of Kiev that they had lost just two days earlier when police launched a bloody but unsuccessful assault on Independence Square, the focal point of protests since late November. There were ominous rumors earlier in the day that Mr. Yanukovych, his police ranks stretched thin, might declare a state of emergency, a move that could herald the deployment of the military to help quell the crisis that has engulfed the former Soviet republic of 46 million.
People from the anti-Yanukovych western part of the country were boarding buses to travel to Kiev in support of the protesters. As many as 600 were leaving the city of Lviv every day, according to the director of one of the three organizations arranging transportation there. Both the United States and the European Union, which made good on pledges to slap punitive sanctions on Ukrainian officials deemed to be responsible for the deadly escalation, warned Mr. Yanukovych to avoid taking that step, which could take the country deeper into civil conflict. But short of calling in troops it looked unlikely that Mr. Yanukovych could restore his battered authority and regain control of the capital.
About the only thing that was entirely clear by late Thursday was that protesters had reclaimed and even expanded territory in the center of Kiev that they had lost just two days earlier when police launched a bloody but unsuccessful assault on Independence Square, which has been the focal point of protests since late November. And the widespread use of firearms in the center of the city was a new and ominous element for the protest movement.
As the protesters, reinforced by swarms of ordinary residents, erected new barricades around their extended protest zone, a woman mounted a stage to appeal for help from foreign governments to prevent the president from declaring a state of emergency.As the protesters, reinforced by swarms of ordinary residents, erected new barricades around their extended protest zone, a woman mounted a stage to appeal for help from foreign governments to prevent the president from declaring a state of emergency.
“A state of emergency means the beginning of war,” she said. “We cannot let that happen.”“A state of emergency means the beginning of war,” she said. “We cannot let that happen.”
In the center of Kiev, however, war had basically broken out, with the police having been authorized to use live ammunition. Just after dawn, young men in ski masks opened a breach in their barricade near the stage on Independence Square, ran across a hundred yards of smoldering debris from what had been called a ring of fire and confronted riot police officers who were firing at them with shotguns.In the center of Kiev, however, war had basically broken out, with the police having been authorized to use live ammunition. Just after dawn, young men in ski masks opened a breach in their barricade near the stage on Independence Square, ran across a hundred yards of smoldering debris from what had been called a ring of fire and confronted riot police officers who were firing at them with shotguns.
Unidentified snipers opened fire. The Associated Press quoted Dr. Oleh Musiy, a medical coordinator for the protesters, as saying that at least 70 protesters had been killed and more than 500 wounded. There was no way to immediately corroborate his assertion. Unidentified snipers opened fire. Sviatoslav Khanenko, a lawmaker and a head of the medical service of the National Resistance Headquarters, said by telephone that about 70 people were killed and more than 1,000 wounded. Some news reports said 100 people were killed.
That death tolls could not be corroborated. But even at the lower casualty numbers reported by Kiev’s municipal health authorities, Thursday was the most lethal day in Ukraine since independence from the former Soviet Union more than 22 years ago.
By noon, 11 corpses had been laid out in a makeshift outdoor morgue under a Coca-Cola umbrella at the end of Independence Square. Other bodies were taken elsewhere.By noon, 11 corpses had been laid out in a makeshift outdoor morgue under a Coca-Cola umbrella at the end of Independence Square. Other bodies were taken elsewhere.
The demonstrators captured at least several dozen policemen, who were marched, dazed and bloody, toward the center of the square through a crowd of men who heckled and shoved them. A Ukrainian Orthodox priest accompanied the officers, pleading with their captors not to hurt them. The demonstrators captured more than 60 policemen, who were marched, dazed and bloodied, toward the center of the square through a crowd of men who heckled and shoved them. A Ukrainian Orthodox priest accompanied the officers, pleading with their captors not to hurt them.
“People are very angry but we must not act like Yanukovych does,” said the priest, Nikolai Givailo. “People are very angry but we must not act like Yanukovych does,” said the priest, Nikolai Givailo. Others said later that the officers were taken to a hotel and released. But the mere act of parading police officers through the streets signaled a new level of defiance and rage by the Kiev protesters.
There was no immediate comment from the government about rumors swirling that it planned to bring in the military to clear Independence Square, a task previously left in the hands of badly stretched anti-riot forces under the Interior Ministry. In an ominous sign of turmoil in the leadership about how to proceed, Mr. Yanukovych on Wednesday dismissed the country’s top general. In another sign of trouble for Mr. Yanukovych, the mayor of Kiev, Volodymyr Makeyenko, announced in a video statement that he could no longer remain in the governing party because ordinary people were dying. He noted bitterly that “no oligarch has died, no politician has died.”
On Thursday the mayor of Kiev, who is also a member of Parliament for the ruling Party of Regions, announced that he was quitting the party. He was one of nearly a dozen party members to announce their resignation Thursday, according to Ukrainian media reports. “Human lives should be the highest value in our state and nothing can contradict this principle,” the mayor, Volodymyr Makeyenko, said in a video statement. With Mr. Yanukovych’s allies in Parliament still resisting changes to the Ukrainian Constitution demanded by the opposition that would reduce the powers of the president, there were several intense talks underway in Kiev in hopes of ending the violence.
Lamenting that the violence was claiming “tens of ordinary people ever day,” he noted bitterly that “no oligarch has died, no politician has died.” The foreign ministers of Germany, Poland and France met with Mr. Yanukovych for more than four hours on Thursday, and then announced that they would extend their stay in Kiev overnight to continue their discussions.
“Ahead of us is a night of heavy negotiations,” Marcin Wojciechowski, a spokesman for the Polish foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, wrote on Twitter.
After the initial round of meetings, the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, said at a news conference in Warsaw that there were some indications that Mr. Yanukovych would be willing to schedule earlier parliamentary and presidential elections, something he had previously resisted. The presidential elections are currently scheduled for March 2015.
But Vitali Klitschko, a Ukrainian opposition leader, expressed deep skepticism after his own subsequent meeting with the European Union emissaries in Kiev. He was quoted by Agence France-Presse as saying there was “no deal yet.”
With demonstrators surging toward and then past police lines, what had been a narrowly circumscribed protest area ringed by police officers expanded rapidly and, amid a continual racket of gunshots, reached up a hill overlooking the square to the edge of the main government district of the capital.With demonstrators surging toward and then past police lines, what had been a narrowly circumscribed protest area ringed by police officers expanded rapidly and, amid a continual racket of gunshots, reached up a hill overlooking the square to the edge of the main government district of the capital.
The fighting left bodies lined up on a sidewalk, and makeshift clinics crammed with the wounded, and sirens and gunfire ringing through the center of the city.The fighting left bodies lined up on a sidewalk, and makeshift clinics crammed with the wounded, and sirens and gunfire ringing through the center of the city.
“There will be many dead today,” said Anatoly Volk, 38, one of the demonstrators. He was watching stretchers carry dead and wounded men down a stairway slick with mud near the Hotel Ukraina.“There will be many dead today,” said Anatoly Volk, 38, one of the demonstrators. He was watching stretchers carry dead and wounded men down a stairway slick with mud near the Hotel Ukraina.
Mr. Volk said the protesters had decided to try to retake the square because they believed the truce announced around midnight was a ruse. The young men in ski masks who led the push, he said, believed it was a stalling maneuver by Mr. Yanukovych to buy time to deploy troops in the capital because the authorities decided the civilian police had insufficient forces to clear the square. Mr. Volk said the protesters had decided to try to retake the square because they believed the truce announced around midnight had been a ruse. The young men in ski masks who led the push, he said, believed it was a stalling maneuver by Mr. Yanukovych to buy time to deploy troops in the capital because the authorities decided the civilian police had insufficient forces to clear the square.
“A truce means real negotiations,” Mr. Volk said. “They are just delaying to make time to bring in more troops. They didn’t have the forces to storm us last night. So we are expanding our barricades to where they were before. We are restoring what we had.”“A truce means real negotiations,” Mr. Volk said. “They are just delaying to make time to bring in more troops. They didn’t have the forces to storm us last night. So we are expanding our barricades to where they were before. We are restoring what we had.”
Gunfire crackled around the Hotel Ukraina and protesters were hit in front of the Globus shopping mall. One protester walked near the fighting with a double-barreled shotgun slung over a shoulder. Supporters of the opposition earlier this week overran an Interior Ministry garrison near of Lviv and captured its armory; it was unclear whether any of the commandeered weapons were being used on Thursday in the fighting in the capital.
“If our guys are dying, excuse me, what can I say,” said the man, who offered only his first name, Oleg. “If they didn’t use guns, the idea never would have come to us.”
The widespread use of firearms in the center of the city was a new and ominous phase for the protest movement.
Supporters of the opposition earlier this week overran an Interior Ministry garrison near the western Ukrainian city of Lviv and captured its armory; it was unclear whether any of the commandeered weapons were being used on Thursday in the fighting in the capital.
The part of the square back under the control of the protesters after the fighting Thursday was an otherworldly panorama of soot-smeared paving stones, debris and coils of smoldering wire from burned tires.The part of the square back under the control of the protesters after the fighting Thursday was an otherworldly panorama of soot-smeared paving stones, debris and coils of smoldering wire from burned tires.
From the stage on the square, a speaker yelled “Glory to Ukraine!” and the crowd yelled back “Glory to its heroes!” That echoed the slogans of the World War II-era Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, guerrilla armies that battled the Nazis, Poles and Soviets in an ultimately futile quest for an independent Ukraine.From the stage on the square, a speaker yelled “Glory to Ukraine!” and the crowd yelled back “Glory to its heroes!” That echoed the slogans of the World War II-era Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, guerrilla armies that battled the Nazis, Poles and Soviets in an ultimately futile quest for an independent Ukraine.
The protests began in November when Mr. Yanukovych rejected a trade and economic agreement with the European Union and turned instead to Russia for financial aid.The protests began in November when Mr. Yanukovych rejected a trade and economic agreement with the European Union and turned instead to Russia for financial aid.
The foreign ministers of France, Germany and Poland met with Mr. Yanukovych on Thursday morning in Kiev but the outcome of that meeting was not immediately clear. They were planning to fly to Brussels, where European Union foreign ministers were meeting in an emergency session to devise a response to the Ukraine crisis, which included possible economic sanctions.
In a televised address to the nation on Wednesday, Mr. Yanukovych said opposition leaders had “crossed the limits when they called people to arms” and demanded that they “dissociate themselves from the radical forces that provoke bloodshed.”In a televised address to the nation on Wednesday, Mr. Yanukovych said opposition leaders had “crossed the limits when they called people to arms” and demanded that they “dissociate themselves from the radical forces that provoke bloodshed.”
The protest movement certainly contains extremist elements but, at least in Kiev and many other cities, particularly in the western regions, it has a wide base of public support. After talks with Mr. Yanukovych late Tuesday as violence spun out of control, the opposition leader Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk complained that the president had only a single offer: “that we surrender.”The protest movement certainly contains extremist elements but, at least in Kiev and many other cities, particularly in the western regions, it has a wide base of public support. After talks with Mr. Yanukovych late Tuesday as violence spun out of control, the opposition leader Arseniy P. Yatsenyuk complained that the president had only a single offer: “that we surrender.”
Adding to the Ukrainian leadership’s alarm on Wednesday were a string of reports from the west of the country, a longstanding bastion of antigovernment sentiment, that the offices of governors, prosecutors, the police and the state security service had been stormed by protesters and, in several cases, set on fire. In Lviv, near the border with Poland, what had been a peaceful blockade of a sprawling compound housing barracks and the Interior Ministry’s western command turned early Wednesday into the seizure of a major military installation.
Ihor Pochinok, the editor in chief of a Lviv newspaper, Ekspres, said the city was bubbling with fury at the assault on Tuesday on Independence Square but “was functioning normally, except for state authorities.”
Protesters, he said, had also stormed the offices of the regional governor, a Yanukovych appointee, resuming an occupation that had ended just three days earlier, and raided the local headquarters of the state prosecutor, the state security service and several district police stations. Around 140 guns were seized from a police armory.
Beyond Lviv, antigovernment activists besieged or seized police stations and administrative buildings in the western cities of Uzhgorod, Lutsk and Khmelnitsky and the eastern city of Poltava.
In Lutsk, protesters attacked the regional police department, which responded with stun grenades and other fire. The building was then set on fire by protesters throwing gasoline bombs.