There’s lot of chaos happening in Kiev.. RT is there with photos and a full report.
What you need to know about this story: There have been three days of fighting between protesters and police.. There seems to be more black smoke billowing over the capitol city of the Ukraine today .. There are also reports that several protesters have now died during the violent clashes.
The New York TIMES provides a bit of background on why all of this suddenly began:
The Ukrainian crisis escalated sharply last week after President Viktor F. Yanukovich signed new laws restricting public assembly and limiting media freedoms. That revived a protest movement that had been fading, as its political leaders were focusing their efforts instead on elections scheduled for next year.
As though Vlad the Impaler Putin doesn’t have enough to worry about with the Sochi games, he’s getting involved with the crisis in Kiev, chiding the European Union for ‘meddling’ in the affairs of the Ukraine. Reuters reports this:
(Reuters) – Russia told European governments on Tuesday to stop meddling in Ukraine’s political crisis and said events could be spinning out of control in Kiev after violence that left vehicles burning in the streets.
Moscow, which sees its fellow former Soviet republic as part of its traditional sphere of influence, has watched nervously as protests against President Viktor Yanukovich’s decision to shun a trade pact with the European Union have turned violent.
Scores of police and demonstrators have been hurt since Yanukovich, who received a multi-billion-dollar bailout package from Moscow after he spurned the EU deal, angered opponents by signing sweeping laws to curb public protests.
RT has a regularly updated minute by minute blog of the happenings..
The government has called the protesters terrorists. The protesters have said they are the ‘people’s council.’ It is beginning to sound and look a lot like THE DARK KNIGHT RISES in Kiev. But there’s no Batman to stop these scenes..
MASSIVE CHAOS IN KIEV AS PROTESTERS TAKE ON THE POLICE
