KIEV, December 11 (RIA Novosti) – Elite riot police and Interior Ministry forces clashed with opposition supporters in the Ukrainian capital Kiev early Wednesday, dismantling barricades that protesters put up in the streets to disrupt access to government buildings.
Most barricades were removed from the downtown Independence Square, but a crowd estimated by opposition leaders at some 25,000 resisted attempts to disperse them.
At least 10 Interior Ministry troops were injured in the clashes, the ministry said.
Media reported several injured among the protesters, who managed to retake the square after losing ground in the initial police assault.
Eight protesters were briefly detained, a police spokeswoman said.
Police said they were only working to dismantle the barricades, not disband the protest camp.
A police spokesman also denied reports that Berkut riot police officers had beaten up elderly people on Independence Square.
Riot police also cleared access to Ukraine’s government office in Kiev, which had been blocked by protesters, allowing the Cabinet to resume operations, the government press office said.
But Berkut troops were beaten back as they tried to recapture Kiev City Hall from protesters, who hosed them with cold water. It was minus 8 degrees Celsius in Kiev on Wednesday.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and the EU’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton denounced the overnight crackdown.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said Wednesday that his government was avoiding a “forceful approach to problems.”
Street protests have been ongoing in Ukraine since President Viktor Yanukovych made an 11th-hour decision last month not to sign a long-awaited association agreement with the EU, opting instead for closer cooperation with Russia.
The protests intensified after the Berkut unit’s harsh suppression of protesters on Independence Square on November 30, when dozens of students and a number of reporters were beaten up.
Up to 800,000 people rallied in Kiev in the days after the first Berkut crackdown.
Opposition leaders have demanded the dissolution of the government and snap legislative and presidential elections.
The government rejected those demands, but said later it was ready for talks with the opposition.
Azarov said Wednesday that the authorities had been “set up” over the November 30 events and called on the opposition and international community to join an investigation into the incident.
Adds Azarov quotes, information about detainees, governmental office and Kiev City Hall standoffs.
