25 people have died and over 240 were injured during the clashes between police and protesters in the Ukrainian capital Kiev.
KIEV: The ministry of health says that 25 people have died and over 240 were injured during the clashes between police and protesters in the Ukrainian capital Kiev.
The violence on Tuesday was the worst in nearly three months of anti-government protests that have paralysed Ukraine's capital in a struggle over the identity of a nation divided in loyalties between Russia and the West, and the worst in the country's post-Soviet history.
Amid cries of ''Glory to Ukraine!'' and with flaming tires lighting up the night sky, thousands of riot police armed with stun grenades and water cannons attacked the sprawling protest camp in the center of Kiev.
With the boom of exploding stun grenades and fireworks nearly drowning out his words at times, opposition leader Vitali Klitschko urged overnight the 20,000 protesters to defend the camp on Independence Square that has been the heart of the protests.
The Ukrainian president is blaming opposition leaders for the deadly violence that has erupted in central Kiev.
In a statement published online early Wednesday, President Viktor Yanukovych said that he had already made several attempts to compromise, but that opposition leaders "crossed a line when they called people to arms."
President said opposition leaders had to "draw a boundary between themselves and radical forces," or else "acknowledge that they are supporting radicals. Then the conversation ... will already be of a different kind."

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