Ukraine riot police break up pro-Europe protests
Brutal crackdown by Ukrainian riot police ends demonstration in Kiev by supporters of greater EU integration
Riot police in the Ukrainian capital Kiev used batons and stun grenades to disperse hundreds of pro-Europe protesters from the city’s main Independence Square early on Saturday, witnesses said.
Police moved in on protesters who were still camped on the square following bigger demonstrations on Friday night against President Viktor Yanukovich’s decision not to sign a landmark agreement on trade with the European Union.
Witnesses said police first fired stun grenades at the crowds and then moved in, using batons to disperse them, chasing some protesters into nearby streets.
At 5am on Saturday, part of the square was sealed off by black-helmeted riot police. Nine years earlier, the square had been the scene of the Orange Revolution protests against misconduct and electoral fraud.
“The failure to sign the agreement of association is treason.”
Tension had been building in Kiev since Friday, when Yanukovich walked away from signing the pact with EU leaders at a summit in Lithuania, going back on a pledge to work toward integrating his ex-Soviet republic into the European mainstream.