Ukraine: dead and wounded, east and west

Yesterday evening, the head of the Security Service of Ukraine, Alexander Yakimenko, and the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Vitaly Zakharchenko, called on the opposition to end the unrest before 18: 00. Otherwise, the security forces promised to “restore order by all means provided by law”, reports Interfax. In 18: 27, the Minister of Justice of Ukraine, a member of the working group on resolving the political crisis, Elena Lukash, accused the opposition of violating the agreements and called for an end to the armed resistance. Meanwhile, the police oppressed the protesters to the Maidan Nezalezhnosti. Kiev metro was closed to traffic. Later, in the early morning, it became known that the Kiev Metro will not work on Wednesday. The city hall said that the work of the subway was interrupted due to the threat of terrorist attack.

Also yesterday evening, the Party of Regions accused the opposition of using firearms weapons. “I want to officially declare that the radical elements that came with the so-called peaceful demonstrators had firearms in their hands, which they used,” said the leader of the Party of Regions faction in the Verkhovna Rada, Alexander Efremov.

In 19: 41, it became known that the All-Ukrainian Union Svoboda through Twitter announced a "general mobilization of Ukrainians." And the head of the Batkivshchyna faction Arseniy Yatsenyuk, speaking on the Maidan, called on the Ukrainians "not to be afraid and come to Maidan."

In 21: 05, the Supreme Council of Crimea called on President Yanukovych for "emergency measures." According to the presidium, a civil war has begun in the country.

In 22: 13 police approached the Maidan. The security forces used water cannons against the protesters. On the square - several strong fires.

In 22: 50, the police, through megaphones, asked women and children to leave the Maidan, where an “antiterrorist operation” would take place. In 23: 03 on euromaidan, according to Interfax, positional battles were already underway. Berkut used water cannons and stun grenades against demonstrators, they responded with incendiary bottles and stones.

During the clashes, according to official figures, at least seven police officers and eleven opposition members were killed. In addition, it was reported about the two dead employees of the Kiev office of the Party of Regions. Hundreds of people injured, notes "Lenta.ru".

According to UNIAN, the deputy head of “Batkivshchyna”, Oleksandr Turchynov, was wounded by a fragment on the stage on the Maidan on the night of February 19.

"Vesti" referring to Interfax, February 18 reported that extremists shot two policemen from a Makarov pistol and a Kalashnikov assault rifle. Law enforcement officers freed the Grushevsky street and the European Square from the radicals and began to dismantle the barricades. Over the center of the city flew military aircraft. Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka reported that about a hundred people suffered during the pogroms 18.

Local people are protected from extremists with foam.

Among those injured are about 20 journalists writing "Vesti".

Six men attacked photojournalist Maxim Trebukhov on Lipskaya Street near the central office of the ruling Party of Regions. The photographer was beaten on the face and head, and his nose was broken. He said this himself: “They were a 6 man. I shot. They pounced on me and started hitting me - on the head, on the face, the body, fortunately, was protected by a bulletproof vest. Doctors say that my nose is broken, so now I will go to the hospital. ”

On the night of February 19, firemen rescued thirty people from the burning House of Trade Unions in the center of Kiev. This is reported on the official website of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Ukraine. The search for people continues, said the agency. Told about it "Lenta.ru".

The first fire units arrived at the scene near 1: 30 local time. At this time in the House of Trade Unions the floors from the third to the ninth burned.

Now about eighty firefighters work at the scene. Involved 14 units of equipment.

There was no official information about the causes of the fire in the House of Trade Unions, controlled by the opposition.

Deputies from the Party of Regions appealed to the world community to give an appropriate assessment of the pressure on the “regionals” and their family members from radical protesters, reports Newsru.com with reference to Interfax.

“We appeal to you to stand up for the defense of democracy, free expression of will and the right of people to form political parties. The need for such protection is dictated by the extreme activation of right-wing neo-Nazi forces in Ukraine. Earlier, the arsenal of their methods included slander, harassment and intimidation of the families of activists of the Party of Regions, but now there are facts of arson of houses, party offices, members of the Party of Regions and their relatives are threatened with physical violence, ”the Party of Regions’s press service said. Wednesday night.

It is also noted in the appeal: “Thus, the people's deputy Yaroslav Sukhoi, who was in the hospital, was forcibly taken from the hospital ward. They also used force against his sick wife and, threatening with murder, forced to write a statement of withdrawal from the Party of Regions. And these are not isolated cases.

On February 18, extremists attacked the central office of the Party of Regions in Kiev and set it on fire. Two workers died. Women who, trying to escape, tried to leave the office, the attacking radicals beat them with batons, mocked them physically and mentally. Three employees were brutally beaten and taken hostage. All these actions are covered with slogans of the struggle for democracy and European integration. ”

“We urge you, dear friends and colleagues, to give an appropriate assessment of such manifestations of radicalism and intolerance in Ukraine so that tolerance of violence does not lead to an irreparable - revival of Nazism in the center of Europe,” the report said.

The appeal is addressed to international human rights organizations, foreign embassies, foreign institutions of state power.

Last night, US Vice President Joe Biden called Viktor Yanukovych and demanded that he immediately start a dialogue with the opposition, as well as withdraw the police from the streets of Kiev, reports "RT" with reference to the RIA "News».

"The Vice-President reiterated the urgent need for an immediate dialogue with opposition leaders to respond to the legitimate concerns of the protesters and develop serious proposals for political reform," the vice-president’s office said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the representative of the European Commission, Stefan Fule, said that “Acting Prime Minister of Ukraine Serhiy Arbuzov assured the European side that the police would not use weapons against peaceful demonstrators,” reports "RT" with reference to ITAR-TASS.

The TV channel recalls that NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton and European Parliament President Martin Schulz previously condemned the new outbreak of violence in Ukraine, noting, in particular, the “unacceptability of methods” that protesters seized administrative buildings. Germany does not exclude the possibility of imposing sanctions on individuals in Ukraine in connection with the escalation of tension and violence. This was stated by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Other Europeans also spoke out.

As the "RT", Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird advised "all parties in the current crisis situation in Ukraine to show restraint and immediately stop the violent actions."

“I was shocked by the renewed violence and death in Kiev,” he said. “No act of violence will go unnoticed by the Government of Canada, and we, together with our allies in the international community, will ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.”

The presidents of Lithuania and Estonia Dalia Grybauskaite and Toomas Hendrik Ilves called on to stop the confrontation in Kiev.

“Both sides of the conflict in the center of Kiev should stop. Every new step leads to new acts of violence and victims. Those who care about the lives of their fellow citizens in Ukraine, who are worried about the future of their state, must find a solution to the crisis without the use of weapons and incendiary bottles, ”Ilves quotes BNS.

“I am shocked by the terrible news from Kiev and strongly condemn the brutal violence,” the Lithuanian head wrote on Twitter.

Kiev authorities are trying to restore some order in the city.

Chairman of the Kyiv City State Administration Volodymyr Makeyenko called on commercial structures to declare February 19 a day off, reports "RT" with reference to the site office.

“I call on all commercial institutions and private enterprises, whose offices are located in the central districts of Kiev (Shevchenko, Pechersky, partially Podolsky and Goloseevsky) so to organize the work schedule so that February 19 2014 either became a day off or turned into a day when the work will be the minimum number of employees ", - are shown on the website of the administration words Makeenko.

In connection with the suspension of the Kiev Metro, the ground public transport of the Ukrainian capital will operate in an enhanced mode. This was reported in the press service of the Kiev city administration.

As for the negotiations between the authorities of the country and the opposition, no success was achieved here.

As transmits RIA News", Viktor Yanukovych and the opposition in the negotiations on Wednesday night could not reach an understanding on the situation in Kiev. This was stated by Vitali Klitschko.

According to Klitschko, the president "inadequately responds to the situation." “All that he was talking about was that the opposition leaders urged people on the Maidan to stop the confrontation and lay down their arms,” said the oppositionist.

“I believe that the authorities should immediately withdraw the security forces and stop the bloody confrontation, because people are dying. And I told Yanukovych about it. While blood is being shed, what negotiations can be? But, unfortunately, he does not have an understanding of the situation, ”he added.

Sad news came from the Ukrainian regions.

Several thousand residents of Ivano-Frankivsk on the night of February 19 seized the buildings of the regional departments of the Security Service of Ukraine and the Interior Ministry, reports "Lenta.ru" with reference to Zaxid.Net.

The guards left both buildings and announced their move "to the side of the people." The protesters formed a living corridor through which they let police officers into the street: they were allowed to go home. The head of the regional department of the Interior Ministry, Vasily Felik, went out to the demonstrators and said that he would not carry out “criminal orders” from Kiev and showed the crowd a report on dismissal.

According to the "Franco Times", the staff of the regional "Berkut" was taken out of the building in a row and without weapons. They plunged into the buses and went to their base.

Having established control over the buildings of the Security Service of Ukraine and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, people moved to the regional prosecutor's office. There is no one to protect her.

Lenta also reports that earlier protesters seized the buildings of the regional state administrations of Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv and Ternopil. They also stormed the Berkut base in Rovno.

Special riots are noted in Lviv.

There, radical oppositionists not only took the premises of the regional prosecutor's office by storm, but also seized the premises of the Lviv regional administration and stormed the regional police department. Around 2, thousands of people attacked a military unit of the Interior Ministry troops and set it on fire. During the assault, 30 soldiers were injured, reports RIA News" with reference to UNN.

According to "Controversy", in Chernigov, police detained a group of underage activists of “euromaidan” suspected of two murders and a number of other crimes committed in the city during several weeks. It is reported by the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in the Chernihiv region.

As the chief of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in the Chernihiv region, Major General of the Police Alexander Mikhailik, told during the press conference, three minors were detained who are suspected of committing two murders and four robberies, including a local journalist Alexander Yasenchuk. The fourth member of the group did not stay because of his young age (2001 year of birth). Suspects give confessions.

The western neighbors of Ukraine are worried. In Poland, for example, there is an opinion that Russia may attack Ukraine.

According to "Reedus" With reference to UNIAN, the CBOS Public Opinion Research Center conducted a survey in Poland related to the attitude of Poles to Ukrainian events. 1020 residents of the country older than 18 took part in the survey.

According to the study, 32% of respondents believe that Russia can carry out an armed intervention in Ukraine. 45% admit that Ukraine is waiting for a civil war. 25% are confident that the Ukrainian authorities will impose a state of emergency. And only a third of the respondents believe in a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

In conclusion, we note that the protesting opposition in Ukraine raised even the theme of the Sochi Olympics.

Through social networks, activists called on compatriots to boycott the Olympics in Sochi, reports Newsru.com.

Oppositionists claim that Ukrainians do not have the moral right to participate in the Olympics when the blood of protesters is shed: “Dear fellow athletes! Please boycott the Olympics. We have no moral right to participate in events! Because during the Olympics, all wars fall asleep, a truce comes! And the Yanukovych regime is pouring blood on our native land with pulsing life ... Shame! Boycott!"

Thus, the opposition, carrying out the seizure of buildings, arranging robberies, murders and fires, blames all sins on the “Yanukovych regime”, sticking even the Sochi Olympics to the President’s “work”. In the meantime, the same West, where oppositionists are rushing, directly indicates to the latter “the unacceptability of methods”. It will end up in that the opposition will finally frighten the EU with fascist aspirations, and Europe will turn its back on the Kiev radicals.