After a day of violent confrontations between anti-government protesters and police in Kiev, the Ukrainian authorities issued an ultimatum on Tuesday afternoon threatening “severe measures” to stop the unrest.
A joint communiqué from the Ministry of Internal Affairs warned that “if the troubles here don’t stop by 6pm local time
(4pm GMT), we will be obliged to restore order by any legal means.” Earlier in the day, several thousand anti-government protesters
clashed with police near Ukraine’s parliament in the capital Kiev,
torching vehicles and hurling stones in what is the worst violence the
city has seen in more than three weeks.
Police responded by firing rubber bullets and stun and smoke grenades, forcing the demonstrators back by about 100 metres. In the late afternoon, police reported that five civilians had died in the clashes.
