24 January 2014
Maidan vote
Ukraine unrest: Protesters storm regional offices
Barricades of snowbags, tyres and wooden sticks
surround the Lviv regional state administration office, as Steve
Rosenberg reports
Anti-government
demonstrators in Ukraine are expanding their protests after talks
between the opposition and President Viktor Yanukovych stalled.
In western Ukraine, activists seized the regional government
office in the city of Ivano-Frankivsk and are storming another one in
Chernivtsi.
Protests were reported in Lutsk, in the north-west, and Sumy, in the east.
Meanwhile, Mr Yanukovych vowed to use "all legal means" if a solution to the crisis is not found.
At a meeting with religious leaders, he also promised to
amend anti-protests laws rushed through parliament last week and
reshuffle the government at an urgent session of parliament due to begin
on Tuesday.
And he said amnesty would be granted to those detained activists who had not committed "grave crimes".
In the capital, Kiev, new barricades were erected as the main protest camp expanded.
Analysis
The Lviv regional state administration office resembles
something from protest-hit Kiev. All around the building there are
barricades of snow bags, tyres and wooden sticks.
On Thursday, hundreds of anti-government protesters seized control here.
Inside, I met "commandant" Andriy, the man in charge here now
and the head of the local trade union. Andriy told me that the
protesters were motivated by anger at what was happening in Kiev.
They blame the authorities for the violence and for death of
anti-government activist Yuri Verbytsky, who was from Lviv. He was found
dead in a forest outside Kiev. "People," Andriy said, "have the right
to rise up."
It's a similar picture in other parts of western Ukraine,
where protesters have been picketing local government offices and, in
some cases, taking control.
It's in this region that opposition to President Yanukovych
has traditionally been strongest - and pro-Europe sentiment most keenly
felt.
Demonstrators braving freezing
conditions in Kiev's Independence Square - widely known as the Maidan -
also occupied a government building as a truce with riot police
continued.
Meanwhile, the parliament of the Crimean Autonomous Republic -
seen as a staunch supporter of Mr Yanukovych - urged the president to
declare a state of emergency.
In other developments on Friday:
- Germany and France are summoning Ukraine's ambassadors over recent deadly clashes in Kiev
- The EU's enlargement commissioner, Stefan Fuele, has held talks in Kiev with Mr Yanukovych and is due to meet opposition leaders
- Mr Yanukovych names Security and Defence Secretary Andriy Kluyev as new head of the presidential administration
The crisis escalated earlier this week when the first deaths in the unrest happened.
Two protesters were shot during rioting on Hrushevskyy Street
near the Maidan. The opposition says they were killed by riot police or
snipers - the government denies the claim.
An activist was also found dead in woods near Kiev after apparently being abducted, tortured and left to die in the snow.
The demonstrations were initially triggered by the
government's last-minute decision to ditch a proposed association and
free trade deal with the EU in November.
But protesters later widened their demand to include the
fight against what activists say are widespread government corruption
and abuse of power.
The authorities deny the allegations.
Maidan vote
In Ivano-Frankivsk, some 1,500 protesters occupied the
regional administration and barricaded themselves in the building,
according to the Ukrainska Pravda website.
"We need to keep people warm in the frost," protester Andriy Moiseenko was quoted as saying by the Associated Press, as temperatures dipped towards minus 16C.
Ministry workers were allowed to take their possessions but not permitted to go to work.
Former boxer Vitaly Klitschko, one of three opposition leaders who met Mr Yanukovych, came back on Thursday evening saying the president had made no real concessions.
"Hours of conversation were spent about nothing," he said.
People on the Maidan later voted to stop any talks with the president, and the decision was taken to expand the main protest camp.
The opposition had been calling for harsh new anti-protest laws to be repealed, a snap presidential election and the resignation of the government.
In Kiev, women begged riot police not to attack protesters
A slogan inside the newly occupied agricultural policy ministry reads "Power to the people"
Protesters said they had moved into the building to get out of the cold and to rest
On Independence Square, snow covers the protesters' tents
The protesters are now demanding that the local governor should resign immediately.
In Chernivsti, crowds stormed the governor's office as police
tried to protect the building. People shouted "Shame on you!" and
"Resign!"
In Lutsk, a big demonstration is being held outside the local administration. Unrest was also seen in Sumy.
Regional offices are being blockaded in the western city of Uzhgorod.
Meanwhile in Lviv, protesters have built barricades around
the governor's office that they seized on Thursday. There were also
reports that some members of the special police, Berkut, were resigning.
In Kiev, masked activists stood guard around the newly-build
defence barriers. Some activists were seen carrying riot shields
captured from the police as trophies.
The barricades took shape on Hryshevskyy Street and also closer to the presidential administration building.
One group of protesters took control of the main agricultural ministry building, reportedly meeting no resistance. "We need to keep people warm in the frost," protester Andriy Moiseenko was quoted as saying by the Associated Press, as temperatures dipped towards minus 16C.
Ministry workers were allowed to take their possessions but not permitted to go to work.
Former boxer Vitaly Klitschko, one of three opposition leaders who met Mr Yanukovych, came back on Thursday evening saying the president had made no real concessions.
"Hours of conversation were spent about nothing," he said.
People on the Maidan later voted to stop any talks with the president, and the decision was taken to expand the main protest camp.
The opposition had been calling for harsh new anti-protest laws to be repealed, a snap presidential election and the resignation of the government.
Appeal for restraint
Justice Minister Olena Lukash said on Thursday that further talks would take place, without saying when.
Mr Klitschko, Arseniy Yatsenyuk and fellow opposition leader
Oleh Tyahnybok had failed to condemn "extremist actions" at the talks,
she added.
Interior Minister Vitali Zakharchenko issued a statement
guaranteeing that police would not take action against the protest camp
on Independence Square.
He urged police officers to "exercise restraint and not to react to petty provocations".
Earlier, his ministry apologised after video footage emerged
showing police humiliating a protester, who was made to walk around
naked in the snow.
