22/01/2014 15:18
At least 3 reported killed in Kiev clashes
Opponents of the Ukrainian government said Wednesday that three people have died in clashes between protesters and police as the unrest that erupted this week shows little immediate sign of abating, RIA Novosti said.
The Ukrainian capital, Kiev, has seen increasingly violent scenes in recent days with demonstrators intensifying their anti-government campaign in response to draconian legislation coming into force Wednesday that has severely curbed the freedom to protest.
Segodnya.ua news website cited staff with the Euromaidan protest movement as saying a 22-year-old activist died after plummeting from the 13-meter-high colonnade of a Kiev stadium.
The victim, whose name was withheld, was pelting Berkut riot police with fireworks and Molotov cocktails, the report said.
He fell down after Berkut officers climbed up the colonnade to chase off him and his fellows, Segodnya.ua said.
Two more protesters were shot dead by police snipers Wednesday at Ulitsa Grushevskogo, where the clashes have taken place, Euromaidan activists said.
Ukrainskaya Pravda newspaper identified one of those killed as Sergei Nigonyan, a Dnipropetrovsk resident who came to Kiev to support the protests.
Police said Wednesday they were looking into the reports of the activists’ deaths.
Berkut squads attempted to disperse protesters early Wednesday, shooting and pelting them with stun grenades, but were beaten back, Euromaidan protest group reported on Twitter.