Violence erupts in Kiev

I was expecting trouble to hit the Ukraine as soon as the Sochi Olympics ended. It has started a bit earlier.

One thing you can bet is that there is nothing spontaneous about this. You only need to have heard the tape of Victoria. Nuland from the State Department in conversation with the US ambassador discussing who they would and wouldn't have in the new "democratic" government that would be installed to know that.

There has been nothing but propaganda and anti-Russian rhetoric throughout the duration of the Sochi games - preparing the way.

These people unfortunately, although they are probably not aware of it, are the dupes of the American empire.  I don't put too many odds on their success.


I will start with the western media which plays on the harm done to the "heroic" opposition, without seeming to notice that policemen have been killed as well.

Violence erupts in Ukrainian capital, shattering truce between government and protesters

SMH,

19 February, 2014

Ukrainian protesters have hurled petrol bombs, fireworks and stones at riot police on the edge of Kiev's Independence Square, and nine people have died in the worst day of violence since demonstrations erupted against President Viktor Yanukovich.

Western powers warned Mr Yanukovich against trying to smash the 12 week-old pro-European demonstrations and opposition leader Vitaly Klitschko, fearing an assault, urged women and children to leave the central square - also known as Maidan - "to avoid further victims".

A police spokeswoman said seven civilians and two policemen had died.

Bloody street riot ... A man looks on after being injured in clashes between anti-government protesters and Ukrainian riot police.

Earlier the State Security Service (SBU), in a joint statement with the interior ministry, had set protesters a 6pm (3am AEDST) deadline to end street disorder or face "tough measures".

Forces loyal to the Russian-backed president broke through front-line barricades near the Dynamo Kiev soccer stadium and advanced to the edge of the occupied Independence Square. They were met after nightfall with a hail of petrol bombs and fireworks, responding with bursts of water cannon.

Fires lit by protesters raged on the fringes of the square to prevent police advancing as opposition speakers harangued the crowd, interspersed with patriotic music.

Improvised explosive ... An anti-government protester throws a Molotov's cocktail during clashes with riot police outside Ukraine's parliament in Kiev.

The riot police moved in hours after Moscow gave Ukraine $US2 billion ($2.2 billion) in aid which it had been holding back to demand decisive action to crush the protests.

Nationwide protests against Mr Yanukovich erupted in November after he bowed to Russian pressure and pulled out of a planned far-reaching trade agreement with the European Union, deciding instead to accept a Kremlin bailout for the former Soviet republic's heavily indebted economy.

In what has become a geo-political tussle redolent of the Cold War, the United States and its Western allies are urging Mr Yanukovich to turn back to Europe and the prospect of an IMF-supported economic recovery, while Russia accuses them of meddling.

Injuries on both sides ... Riot police officers and a woman take cover behind shields during clashes between anti-government protesters with police in Kiev.

Clashes raged for several hours earlier outside the parliament building, where opposition lawmaker Lesya Orobets said three demonstrators were killed and taken to a nearby officers' club used as a medical centre. More than 100 people were injured, she said.

"Three bodies of our supporters are in the building. Another seven are close to dying (because of wounds)," she said on her Facebook page. Two more bodies were lying in front of a Metro station on the southeastern side of the square, a photographer told Reuters.

The police spokeswoman said the two officers and three protesters died of gunshot wounds. Two more protesters suffered heart attacks while one died in a fire and another in a traffic accident.

Grim toll ... Forensic experts and police look at dead bodies lying on the ground after clashes between anti-government protesters and security officers, in central Kiev.

Mr Klitschko, a former world heavyweight boxing champion who leads one of three main opposition groups, told protesters on the occupied square: "We cannot exclude the possibility of use of force in an assault on the Maidan."

Right Sector, a militant far-right group, added to tension by calling on people holding weapons to go to Independence Square, centre of the revolt, to protect it from a possible offensive by security forces.

As protesters and police battled on the streets of Kiev, Russia called the escalation a "direct result of connivance by Western politicians and European structures that have shut their eyes ... to the aggressive actions of radical forces".

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who has tried to broker a power-sharing transition, urge Ukraine's leadership "to address the root causes of the crisis".

Monday's $US2 billion cash injection, a resumption of the $US15 billion aid package, was seen as a signal that Russia believes Mr Yanukovich has a plan to end the protests and has dropped any idea of bringing opposition leaders into government.

In another apparent gesture towards Moscow, a Ukrainian government source said state gas company Naftogaz has paid back $US1.3 billion of its 2013 debt to Russian gas monopoly Gazprom , although it still owes $US1.5 billion.

While Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to have won the battle for influence in Ukraine for now, protesters who have occupied the centre of the capital are not going quietly.

"I think Russia received some kind of assurances from the Kiev leadership that were satisfactory, because only a day before there was nothing like it," said Gleb Pavlovsky, former Kremlin adviser and political analyst in Moscow.

"I think Yanukovich showed he would stick firmly by his position in talks (with the opposition), he would not make excessive concessions, he would fight the radicals who are getting stronger in the opposition ... and that the (new) prime minister would not be a member of the opposition."

Yet rather than boosting Mr Yanukovich, Moscow's move may have helped to provoke a more violent turn in the protests, especially from those demonstrators who have a strong anti-Kremlin agenda.

Several thousand protesters torched vehicles and hurled stones. Police replied by firing rubber bullets and stun and smoke grenades from trucks and from the tops of buildings, forcing the protesters back by about 100 metres.

"The authorities do not want to compromise on any issue ... We understand that yet another odious candidate will be put forward (for prime minister), one who will be unable to restore the economy or end the political crisis," said Vyacheslav Kyrylenko, an opposition deputy.

Inside parliament, opposition leaders brought proceedings to a halt by blocking the speaker's tribune and opposition leader Mr Klitschko urged Mr Yanukovich to take riot police off the streets to avert further "conflict in society".

The protesters had marched to parliament to back the opposition leaders' calls for Mr Yanukovich to relinquish what they call his "dictatorial" powers and particularly his control of the economy and the security forces.

This is coverage from RT

7 policemen among 18 killed in Ukraine riots as Kiev city center burns

RT,

18 February, 2014

At least 18 people have been killed in Kiev as the Ukrainian capital plunges back into chaos. Rioters have attacked police, seized buildings, torched vehicles, and burned tires. Seven policemen are among the dead, all of whom died from gunshot wounds.

At least 11 protesters died in the riots, according to local officials. “As of 11 pm local time 221 people have sought medical attention, 114 of them were hospitalized. There were 11 fatalities,” Ukraine’s Health Ministry said in a statement.

Kiev’s hospitals are unable to handle the large amount of injured people coming in from the streets, TSN reported. There is a waiting list for operation rooms. People are being carried in with various types of injuries. There have been reports of two amputations, punched out eyes, and injured extremities.

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry has also reported that 135 law enforcers have been taken to hospitals, and 35 are in critical condition.

Video footage of violence shows rioters pelting an armored personnel carrier with Molotov cocktails, setting it on fire. Reports from the scene say the fire has been extinguished and the vehicle is now operational.

Police are using loudspeakers and urging protesters to leave Independence Square (Maidan). Speakers on stage are calling on the government to allow its “dogs” (police) to leave them alone, and are chanting slogans like “Glory to Ukraine!” and “Death to the enemies!”

Earlier, a group of rioters armed with clubs stormed into the Canadian Embassy in Kiev, according to the interior ministry's press service. The unidentified rioters reportedly broke into the embassy, destroyed some of its property, and attacked staff.

Another group of around 1,000 rioters attempted to storm a district police headquarters building in Kiev, using an explosive device in the process. The rioters seized two trolley buses to block the streets and a truck to ram police cordons. They also smashed an ambulance and broke into several offices in central Kiev.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged the Ukrainian government and opposition to show restraint and resume “sincere dialogue,” RIA Novosti quoted Ban's spokesperson, Martin Nesirky, as saying. "The Secretary-General is extremely concerned about reports received today regarding the resumption of violence and loss of life," he said.

An emergency meeting has been scheduled for 11:00 p.m. local time between President Viktor Yanukovich and the nation's three opposition leaders to find a solution to the escalating violence, according to the Kiev Post.

Meanwhile, presidential adviser Hanna Herman told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that talks between the government and the opposition are only possible when peace is restored. “Negotiations only happen when the force methods of fighting are stopped, when the opposition takes armed people off the streets and when calm is renewed in the country,” Herman said.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich had a telephone conversation with US Vice President Joe Biden, LB.ua cited sources as saying. It is not yet known what was discussed between the two leaders. Earlier, US and EU ambassadors were unable to reach Yanukovich.

Kiev, February 18, 2014. (AFP Photo / Genya Savilov)

As the situation in Kiev intensifies, violence has been spreading to the west of the country. Hundreds of young rioters in the western city of Lvov have seized the regional administration building and are storming the Lvov Central Internal Affairs Directorate, Interfax reported.

Around 300 rioters have also surrounded the local administration building and police department in the western city of Ternopol, Unian reported. Protesters threw bricks at the police department windows and demanded that officers evacuate the building. As policemen began making their way out through the back exit, rioters continued to throw rocks and chased them down the street. There are reports that three smoke bombs and grenades were used.

Meanwhile, the southern Ukrainian Autonomous Republic of Crimea has urged President Viktor Yanukovich to come up with “decisive action and emergency measures” to end riots and restore constitutional order.

“The peaceful Crimea is extremely concerned with the latest surge of violence in central Kiev. The carnage on the capital’s streets proves that the opposition has taken manifold concessions on part of the government for a show of its weakness, and has used the amnesty law as a break before a new attempt of a forceful power grab,” Crimea’s Supreme Council said in a Tuesday statement.

According to the statement, the general mobilization – called by “extremist” groups like the Right Sector and the Svoboda Party – is nothing but the start of a civil war in Ukraine.

"Fuck the EU," Victoria "REGIME CHANGE" Nuland exposed

I tried every permutation I could to find reference to John McCain's visit to stir up trouble in Kiev on Google. I could not find anything, until I found this refererence. It is as if it has been airbrushed from history. Welcome to the Soviet States of America!

A reasonable backgrounder into the internal cultural divide within the Ukraine and how this relates to the geo-politicsl situation

Ukrainian Political Violence Spurred by Cultural Divide

Nicolai Petro: Violence persists between opposition and security forces, as opponents use culture to divide strongly nationalistic Ukrainian groups and Russian-influenced factions

UPDATE

6:25 GMT:

Twenty-five people have been killed in violent clashes between security forces and protesters, according to Ukraine's Health Ministry.

The ministry also officially confirmed that a journalist from the local ‘Vesti’ newspaper, Vyacheslav Veremey, died in Kiev after a gunshot wound.