Ukraine police stand down after protest grows

Olga Rudenko | Special for USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Raw: Ukrainian Police Clash With Demonstrators Ukrainian police clashed with demonstrators in Kiev, but then backed off. The protesters are occupying a city square in Ukraine's capital. They want the country's government removed. (Dec. 11)

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KIEV, Ukraine — Ukraine police Wednesday failed to wrest control of several key positions away from the opposition movement after an unexpected overnight crackdown.

Late Tuesday night, and amid bitterly cold conditions, thousands of Ukrainian riot police and internal security officers appeared in the center of Kiev, where an anti-government protest movement sparked by the Ukrainian government's decision not to pursue European Union accession has been going on for almost three weeks.

Anastas Boiko, 25, said he was at a barricade on nearby Institutska Street with about 50 other young men when he heard somebody shout, "They're coming!," enabling him and the other men who stood at the barricade blocking the street to block police storming the barricade.

"We didn't do anything active, we didn't attack the officers," said Boiko. "We just stood there, blocking them. When somebody attempted to throw something at the police or to beat an officer with a stick, people around would just take away the stick to stop the provocation."

The officers attempted to clear Independence Square and nearby streets from around 3,000 protesters, storming the square simultaneously from several sides and demolishing tents constructed by demonstrators.

On Wednesday morning, protesters stood their ground near Kiev's city hall, which was occupied Dec. 1 and which now serves as one of the movement's headquarters.

Three police buses pulled up to the building's main entrance, and were immediately surrounded by around 2,000 protesters chanting "Shame!," while others in the second floor of the building poured water on the police as they emerged.

The police departed, making no attempt to reclaim the building.

"Before, we used them (hoses) to make the porch icy ... if they decided to break in," said Stanislav Krasnov, a protester appointed to be the deputy commandant of the city hall, adding it was his idea to use the hosepipes. "But our main defense is people, not ice or barricaded doors. Today the police stepped back because there were so many people standing here for us."

Krasnov said the police raid was unexpected.

"After their actions on Maidan during the night we thought it was over and prepared to sleep," he said. "With decisions like this one, (President) Yanukovych is only provoking people. It gives people moral right to act similarly in response."

Meanwhile, Vitaliy Zakharchenko, Ukraine's interior minister, posted a video statement on the Kiev police website. He said police only attempted to unblock the streets to restore the normal flow of traffic.

"For several days Kiev has suffered from severe traffic jams," he said. "The main streets of the city are getting blocked by the barricades. The necessity of these barricades is quite questionable." He added that the action to unblock the streets was conducted under a court order.

Analysts said the action was a form of intimidation.

"The government is trying basically to intimidate the protest," said Orysia Lutsevych, a non-resident fellow in the Russia and Eurasia program at the London-based Chatham House think tank.

Lutsevych said she had seen video of the massive police force being used to attempt to dislodge the protesters, but she didn't expect the protesters to be cowed.

"They're not ready to go," she said. "They even treat last night as a victory in a way."

Jesse Singal contributed from Berlin.