Enraged protesters stormed government offices in three western Ukraine cities yesterday, forcing one governor to write a letter of resignation, as demonstrations against the pro-Russian president and his allies intensified outside the smouldering capital.
Kiev, the capital, has been the epicentre of two months of protests against President Viktor Yanukovych which have grown increasingly violent. Opposition leaders gave Mr Yanukovych a deadline yesterday evening to make concessions or face renewed clashes, quenching the barricade fires that had coated the capital in black smoke in a tenuous ceasefire. As the deadline passed, the leaders were still in talks with Mr Yanukovych.
The president has called a special session of parliament next week to discuss the tensions, telling the parliament speaker: “The situation demands an urgent settlement.”
The protests began after Mr Yanukovych turned away from closer ties with the European Union in favour of getting a bailout loan from Russia. They turned violent this week after he pushed through harsh anti-protest laws, rejecting demonstrators’ demands that he resign and call new elections.
At least two protesters died on Wednesday of gunshot wounds, a grim escalation that also galvanised anger in western Ukraine, where support for Mr Yanukovych is virtually non-existent and most residents want closer ties to the 28-nation EU.
Yesterday, in Lviv, a city near the Polish border 280 miles west of Kiev, hundreds of activists burst into the office of regional governor Oleh Salo, a Yanukovych appointee, shouting “Revolution!” and singing Christmas carols. After surrounding him and forcing him to sign a resignation letter, an activist ripped it out of Mr Salo’s hands and lifted it up to the cheers and applause of the crowd. Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters smashed windows, broke doors and stormed into the governor’s office in the city of Rivne, shouting “Down with the gang!” – a common reference to the Yanukovych administration.
Anger spread after a video was released online appearing to show police abusing a naked protester in what looked like a location close to the site of the Kiev clashes.
In the video, a young man, his body covered in bruises, wearing nothing but socks, is made to stand on the snow while a policeman punches him in the head and others force him to pose for photos.