Victims in Kyiv: Protesters blocking parliament, riot police shooting people (live stream)
Several thousand protesters clashed with police near Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s parliament).
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18.52 The negotiations with the authorities are to be held tomorrow, Vital Klitschko said on Maidan. He urged riot policemen to desist from assaulting and violence.
18.40 One of the victims has been identified. His name is Serhiy Dzidyk.
17.43 Internal troops and Berkut riot police forces are rallying up in Europeyski Square and making their way to Maidan. It is not inconceivable that they will make an attempt to take it by storm at 7 pm.
17.30 Another man dies, deputy Illya Sagaidak wrote on Facebook: ‘A young man has just died not far from the National Bank, and I was a spectator. God, thousands of injured, there are victims. Blood rivers…’
{movie}Police are beating a protester (shocking footage)|right|14895{/movie}
17.24 Violence should be stopped by 7 pm, he Ukrainian Minister of Interior demands. ‘Opposition extremists have gone over the line – they are killing innocent people, abusing women, burning buildings and cars,’ they say.
17.08 Police are shooting protesters not far from Khreshchatyk undeground station.
{movie}Injured in Kyiv: a bleeding man.|right|14870{/movie}
16.55 There are 150 injured, including 30 having serious wounds, the health service of the National Resistance headquarters reports. They had to cut off a protester’s limb in-field; some have closed and open head injuries, missile wounds. The problem is that police don’t let ambulances come past, they say. The health service has neither confirmed nor refuted the death toll.
{movie}No comment. Police are beating a protester (shocking video).|right|14873{/movie}
16.15 Deputy Lesia Orobets reports on Facebook that 3 protesters died at the House of Officers (where a medical unit was established), and 7 are on the verge of death. Ambulance cars are not allowed in, she says.
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The protesters marched to the parliament building in a move to keep up pressure on President Viktor Yanukovych to relinquish some of his presidential powers. But when they were blocked by a line of trucks about 100 meters short of the building, some people started throwing stones at police, Reuters reports. Police are firing stun and smoke grenades from trucks and from the tops of buildings to try to break up the crowd.
There are injured people in clashes at the crossroad of Shovkovychna and Instytutska Streets. Two women were wounded by rubber bullets: one of them got injured in a heart area, the other in her face, Ukrainska Pravda reports. People are finding rubber grapeshot on the ground.
According to unian.info, militia officers injured at least 10 protesters near Verkhovna Rada. An activist has allegedly had his hand torn away by grenade, the agency says. A number of casualties is reported to be increasing.
Meanwhile, opposition blocked the rostrum of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in a sign of protest of refusal its speaker Volodymyr Rybak to register a resolution on return to Constitution 2004.
Vitaliy Klitschko, one of opposition leaders, demands President Yanukovych should announce early parliamentary and presidential elections. Mr Klitschko also calls the head of the state to immediately remove Berkut special subdivisions from the centre of Kyiv, a unian.info correspondent reports from Verkhovna Rada.
