KIEV, February 20 (RIA Novosti) – Officials in Ukraine on Thursday morning raised the death toll from clashes between police and protesters that rocked the capital city this week to 28.
Thousands of demonstrators remained hunkered down in the central Independence Square overnight Wednesday, but there was no repetition of the large-scale violent disturbances a day earlier.
The Health Ministry said 287 people have been hospitalized, including 88 police officers, six journalists and four children.
Police say more than 800 people in total were injured in the violence.
Unrest erupted around noon Tuesday as thousands of people marched on the parliament building, where a standoff was taking place over proposed constitutional reforms that the opposition said could provide a way out of the political crisis paralyzing the country.
Authorities and opposition representatives have traded accusations over who was responsible for escalating the violence. Police say radical protesters have secured hundreds of firearms, accounting for at least 10 deaths by gunshot wounds suffered by anti-riot forces.
Mass protests initially erupted in late November after the government backed away from deals to deepen political and economic cooperation with the European Union and instead opted for closer ties with Russia.
Although at first discontent was focused on that about-face move on EU ties, protests have since taken on a more general anti-government quality, calling for the president’s ouster and early elections.
