Ukraine leader condemns attempted coup
Print Edition
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich yesterday accused pro-European opposition leaders of trying to seize power by force after at least 26 people died in the worst violence since the former Soviet republic gained independence.
European Union leaders condemned what they called “the unjustified use of excessive force by the Ukrainian authorities” and said they were urgently preparing targeted sanctions against those responsible for the crackdown.
Protesters have been occupying central Kiev for almost three months since Yanukovich spurned a far-reaching trade deal with the EU and accepted a US$15 billion Russian bailout.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman insisted the Kremlin was sticking to a policy of not intervening in Ukraine. The Kremlin said Putin and Yanukovich spoke by telephone overnight, calling the events an attempted coup.
After a night of petrol bombs and gunfire on Independence Square, black smoke billowed from a burned-out trade union building that protest organizers had used as a headquarters.
Security forces occupied about a third of the square — the part which lies closes to government offices and parliament — with protesters pouring in to reinforce their defenses on the remainder of the plaza.
In a statement posted online in the early hours, Yanukovich said he had refrained from using force since the unrest began but was being pressed by “advisers” to take a harder line.
“Without any mandate from the people, illegally and in breach of the constitution of Ukraine, these politicians — if I may use that term — have resorted to pogroms, arson and murder to try to seize power,” the president said.
He declared today a day of mourning for the dead.
A senior opposition leader, world champion boxer-turned-politician Vitaly Klitschko, walked out of a meeting with Yanukovich on Tuesday night, saying he could not negotiate while blood was being spilt.
The Health Ministry said the dead included 10 police officers. A ministry official, quoted by Interfax, said 263 protesters and 342 police officers were being treated for injuries, mainly gunshot wounds.
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