Ukraine clashes continue despite agreed truce

A medic for the protesters said eight were killed by gunfire as demonstrators tried to take control of a building near the Kiev city centre encampment that has become a focal point of protests against president Viktor Yanukovych.

The two sides are locked in a battle over the identity of this nation of 46 million after Yanukovych shunned closer ties with the EU and tilted toward Moscow, while parts of the country are in open revolt against the central government.

The latest bout of street violence began on Tuesday when protesters attacked police lines and set fires outside parliament, accusing Yanukovych of ignoring their demands to enact constitutional reforms that would limit the president’s power – a key opposition demand. Parliament, dominated by his supporters, was stalling on taking up a constitutional reform to limit presidential powers.

In a statement published earlier today, the Ukrainian health ministry said 28 people had been killed and 287 treated in hospital during two days of street violence. Protesters, who have set up a medical care facility in a city centre cathedral, say the numbers are significantly higher.

Ukrainian police said earlier that more than 20 officers had been wounded by gunfire in the capital. A statement from the interior ministry said the gunfire appeared to be coming from the National Music Conservatory, which is on the edge of the square housing an extensive protest tent camp.

Also today, the parliament building was evacuated because of fears protesters were preparing to storm it, said a parliament spokeswoman.

The renewed clashes follow days of violence, the most deadly since protests kicked off three months ago after Yanukovych shelved an association agreement with the European Union in favor of closer ties with Russia. After Yanukovych shelved the agreement with the EU, Russia announced a multibillion-pound bailout for Ukraine, whose economy is in tatters.

The new violence on the square indicates that more radical elements among the protesters are unwilling to observe the truce and might not be mollified by the prospect of negotiations. Although the initial weeks of protests were determinedly peaceful, radicals helped drive an outburst of clashes with police in January in which at least three people died, and renewed violence might have radicalised many more.

Political and diplomatic manoeuvring has continued, with Moscow and the West eager to gain influence over this former Soviet republic. Three EU foreign ministers – from Germany, France and Poland – are in Kiev to speak with both sides before an emergency EU meeting in Brussels to consider sanctions against those responsible for the recent violence in Ukraine.

President Barack Obama also stepped in to condemn the violence, warning “there will be consequences” for Ukraine if it continues. The US has raised the prospect of joining with the EU to impose sanctions against Ukraine.

Russia’s foreign ministry described the violence as an attempted coup and even used the phrase “brown revolution”, an allusion to the Nazi rise to power in Germany in 1933. The ministry said Russia would use “all our influence to restore peace and calm”.