http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ukraine-fighting-kills-least-25-075039627.html
Ukraine Plunges Deep
Into Crisis as Western Region Balks
By Aliaksandr Kudrytski and Kateryna Choursina 1 hour ago
Ukraine's crisis deepened as a western region
declared independence from the central government, while neighboring Poland's
prime minister warned of civil war and European Union leaders threatened
sanctions.
In the wake of
the deadliest clashes of a three-month standoff between protesters and
Russia-backed President Viktor Yanukovych,
lawmakers in the Lviv region said they'll no longer take orders from the
Yanukovych administration. Protesters seized government or security service
headquarters in at least four other regions. The army said it has no plans to
move troops to dissolve protests and stepped up security at its arsenals.
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"We may be
witnessing the first hour of a civil war," Polish Prime Minister Donald
Tusk told lawmakers in Warsaw today. "We are dealing with an ongoing
destruction of the country. If people are dying and being injured during
protests, it's the authorities who are responsible. There are no doubts about
that in Kiev."
Yanukovych yesterday moved to end the crisis that has destabilized
the country of 45 million, a key route for Russian gas. At least 25 people died
and hundreds were injured yesterday and last night as activists last night
repelled a police attempt to clear their main protest camp in central Kiev.
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The opposition "has crossed the line when they called people
to arms," Yanukovych said on his website today. "This is an
outrageous violation of the law. My advisers happen to be trying to talk me
into a tough scenario, the use of force. But I have always considered the use
of force a false route."
Record Yield
Ukrainian bonds
and stocks slumped. The yield on the government's $1 billion of notes maturing
in June jumped a record 5.06 percentage points to an all-time high of 27.99
percent by 1:33 p.m. in Kiev. The Ukrainian Equities Index fell for a second
day, losing 4.2 percent. The cost of insuring Ukraine's
debt for five years against non-payment using credit default swaps rose to the
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Unrest in Ukraine
Hundreds remained on Independence Square today, including
reinforcements from the western city of Lviv, with squadrons of police ringing
their burning barricades. The violence drew a sharp reaction from global
leaders.
The European
Union moved toward freezing the assets of Ukraine's most powerful officials.
The bloc's foreign ministers will meet tomorrow to weigh "all possible
options," including "restrictive measures against those responsible
for repression," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in an
e-mailed statement from Brussels. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden called Yanukovych to express "grave concern" over the violence and urge the government to exercise restraint.
Putin Call
Russia blames
"extremists" and "radical elements" for the escalation of
violence, President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said on a conference call with reporters
today. While Putin had a phone conversation with Yanukovych last night, he
never gave advice on how to handle the crisis, Peskov said.
Nine security officers and a journalist were among the fatalities
since yesterday as security forces moved to clear out the main protest camp in
Kiev. Twenty protesters died and many were missing, Hromadske TV reported,
citing the activists.
The violence has
spread throughout Ukraine. Protesters stormed police offices in Ternopil and
Ivano-Frankivsk, both in western Ukraine. In Lutsk, activists burned the
offices of the ruling parties, Hromadske TV reported.
‘No Way'
In Kiev,
protesters fed flames ringing their camp to maintain a barrier against
government forces throughout the night. A burnt-out trade union building
protesters had seized and used as their headquarters towered over the square,
sending flames into the morning sky.
"There's no way we leave, because we have nothing to lose
anymore," said Mykola, who declined to give his last name for fear of reprisal.
"Everyone who spent the night here can already count on a dozen years in
prison."
The government closed the subway system, set up checkpoints to limit access to the
city of 3 million people and took the opposition's Channel 5 off the air.
Schools and kindergartens in central Kiev will remain closed today, as will the
subway, the city administration said. Lights went out over Independence Square
after midnight.
"I am
calling on everyone who committed crimes to put down their arms and avoid
severe punishment," Andriy Portnov, deputy chief of staff of Yanukovych's
administration, said on the presidential website today. "We demand a stop
to all illegal action, surrender to law enforcement, free all seized
premises."
Injuries, Detentions
As of 6 a.m., 351
people sought medical help in Kiev, and 241 were hospitalized, the Health
Ministry said on its website. Police said 371 officers were injured, many with
gunshots. As many as 20 activists died and 400 were hurt, Channel 5 reported on
its website, citing the head of the protest camp's medical center. Fifty-nine people were detained as of 10 a.m., the Interfax news service reported, citing the Interior Ministry. The ministry said police didn't use live ammunition and blamed the protesters for the deaths.
Russia, which said this week it would renew funding for Ukraine,
blamed the U.S. and the EU for the violence.
"Western politicians and European structures" and their
"policy of connivance" are guilty for the escalation of the violence,
the Foreign Ministry in Moscow said yesterday.
Protest Demands
The opposition is
seeking to overturn constitutional changes that strengthened Yanukovych's
powers and to put Ukraine on a path toward EU membership. The standoff began on
Nov. 21, when Yanukovych pulled out of a free-trade deal with the EU, opting
instead for President Vladimir Putin's offer
of $15 billion of aid and cheaper gas.
Russia, which stopped buying bonds from Ukraine's cash-strapped
government after Yanukovych's Russian-born prime minister, Mykola Azarov,
resigned last month, said Feb. 17 it would resume purchases, including $2
billion this week. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov made the
announcement just as Klitschko and Yatsenyuk were meeting with German Chancellor
Angela Merkel in Berlin to seek financial and political backing to form a new
government.
Yanukovych, 63, will propose a candidate for prime minister this
week, Speaker Volodymyr Rybak told reporters Feb. 17. Yatsenyuk rejected
Yanukovych's offer to become premier on Jan. 25.
"Russia is playing hardball," Alexander Valchyshen, head
of research at Investment Capital in Kiev, said by phone. "Russia gave a
clear signal that it knows who'll be the next prime minister, that it's ready
to financially support him, and that no other players are acceptable
here."
To contact the reporters on this story: Aliaksandr Kudrytski in
Kiev at akudrytski@bloomberg.net;
Kateryna Choursina in Kiev at kchoursina@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Hellmuth Tromm
at htromm@bloomberg.net
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