The bodies of three slain protesters in Kyiv are covered up by mourners on Khreshchatyk Street. The death toll is rising amid fresh clashes between police and protesters on Feb. 20 on Independence Square. At least 35 demonstrators have been killed, most by gunshot wounds from police near October Palace on the south side of the main square. (Kyiv Post)
Ukrainian protesters retook Kiev’s Independence Square on Thursday.
Reuters reported:
Ukrainian protesters seized back Kiev’s Independence Square in fresh clashes with riot police on Thursday that left several injured and possibly two demonstrators dead.
The violence came after a truce declared late on Wednesday by President Viktor Yanukovich, who was due to meet the foreign ministers of France, Germany and Poland shortly in Kiev.
Ukrainian television showed two bodies lying on the ground near the square covered by blankets following violence shortly after 9 a.m., when protesters surged forward into an area that had been taken by police in heavy fighting between Tuesday and Wednesday.
The anti-government militants hurled fireworks and other projectiles. Police fired stun grenades.
Later, television footage showed several injured protesters being led away by helpers and several riot policemen being led off in the square by opposition militants in combat fatigues.
A woman cries near the bodies of protesters killed during the storming on Kyiv’s Independence Square on Feb. 20.
© Kostyantyn Chernichkin (Kiev Post)