Bodies litter the streets as Kiev plunges into new savagery: Police snipers use live ammunition and protestors take officers hostage

At least 50 people have died in clashes in Kiev that came just days after the crisis in the Ukraine seemed to be over



Ukraine's Interior ministry says 67 police troops have been captured by protesters in Kiev

Several thousand protesters remained on Independence Square in Kiev and clashed with police on Thursday


Violence exploded on the streets of Kiev again yesterday as clashes between riot police and protesters plumbed new depths of savagery.

The bodies of 20 civilians lay strewn on the ground after riot police were authorised to use live ammunition in place of rubber bullets. There were reports of snipers firing at protesters.

And, in a chilling twist, the demonstrators took at least 67 police officers hostage, according to Ukraine’s interior ministry.

As many as 70 are believed to have died and up to 500 injured – on what was supposed to be a day of mourning for those killed earlier this week.

A protest doctor told AP that at least 70 protesters were killed Thursday and over 500 were wounded in the clashes - and that the death toll could well rise further Protesters burn as they stand behind barricades during clashes with police on Thursday

Grim toll: Activists pay respects to protesters who were killed in clashes with police

Protesters hurled petrol bombs and paving slabs at police in a three-hour battle to recapture Independence Square, where former hotels have become makeshift mortuaries.

Just hours earlier President Viktor Yanukovych had agreed a truce with opposition leaders ‘with the aim of ending bloodshed’.

But after the Ukrainian leader met an EU delegation of German, Polish and French foreign ministers to discuss a ‘road map’ to peace, demonstrators held police captive in Kiev’s occupied city hall.

The country’s parliament building and the foreign ministry were evacuated because of fears that protesters would storm them.

Last night, the EU imposed sanctions on senior Ukrainian figures as Foreign Secretary William Hague condemned the violence as ‘utterly unacceptable and indefensible’.

Prime Minister David Cameron made an urgent telephone call to Russian president Vladimir Putin urging him to get behind the plan for negotiations put forward by the European foreign ministers in Kiev.

Armed: An anti-government protester holds a shotgun as he mans a barricade on the outskirts of Independence Square

Escalation: A protestor takes aim with a double-barrelled shotgun during the clashes

Anti-government protestors have been seen with civilian firearms, such as rifles and shotguns

Explosive: Police take cover behind shields as anti-government protesters throw flares at them in Kiev's Independence Square

The opposition is insisting on Yanukovych's resignation and an early election while the embattled president is apparently prepared to fight until the end

A Downing street spokesman said: ‘The Prime Minister agreed with President Putin that they should both encourage all sides in Ukraine to get behind this emerging plan as a way to end the violence and open the way to a lasting peaceful solution.’

As the carnage intensified yesterday, footage on Ukrainian television showed protesters being cut down by gunfire amid the burning wreckage of the city’s streets.

At least 21 bodies were counted on the edge of the smouldering protest encampment in central Kiev and one policeman had been shot 28 times, according to reports.

Dozens of bullet-riddled bodies were seen by reporters laid out in white sheets on the marble floors of hotels around Independence Square, known as Maidan.

As support for President Yanukovych began to crumble, there were reports of his family and top officials leaving the country with suitcases of cash.

There were varying estimates of the death toll yesterday. But Dr Oleh Musiy, the top medical coordinator for the opposition, said at least 70 demonstrators were killed and more than 500 injured.

It was reported that 28 were killed and more than 500 wounded in fighting earlier this week.

Riot police fire at anti government demonstrators on the Independence square in Kiev

The police snipers made no attempt to conceal themselves

This officer appears to be brandishing an automatic weapon

Live rounds: A protester holds a cartridge and two empty cases he found during clashes with police in central Kiev on Thursday

The government blamed the opposition, saying the ‘calls for a truce and dialogue were nothing but a way of playing for time to mobilise and arm militants from Maidan’. But opposition leaders called the violence ‘an act of provocation’ by the authorities.

This week’s clashes are the most deadly since protests began peacefully three months ago when Yanukovych abandoned closer ties with Europe in favour of Russia.

Ukraine is a nation of 46million, ethnically divided between Ukrainians who favour closer ties with Europe, and Russians who prefer links to Moscow.

The president opted to sign a deal with Russia, who offered a multibillion-pound bailout for Ukraine’s severe economic problems, rather than sign a trade deal with Europe.

Shocking footage has emerged of protesters being shot by sniper fire

One clip begins with protesters advancing as a group behind shields

Suddenly several members of the group are sent sprawling, appearing to have been shot





Harrowing: An anti-government protester with severe head injuries received during clashes with riot police receives medical care at a makeshift hospital in Kiev

Desperate: Many protestors were injured by sniper fire and reports on how many are dead are conlflicting

Medics tend to a gravely wounded anti-government protester in the lobby of the Hotel Ukraine, which has been converted to a medical clinic and makeshift morgue

Protesters are calling for the resignation of Yanukovych and early elections, but the embattled leader was fighting on last night despite signs that his empire was crumbling. Leading figures left his party and troops were reported to have supplied protesters with weapons, while senior party members said he had ‘completely lost control of the situation’.

European Union foreign ministers have agreed to impose sanctions on those ‘suspected of violence against anti-government protesters’. Mr Hague said yesterday: ‘Of course we call on all involved to turn away from violence, but some people are responsible for the violence and so we have decided to introduce targeted measures and targeted sanctions involving visa bans and asset freezes on those individuals who are responsible.’

Earlier the Ukrainian ambassador to London, Volodymyr Khandogiy, was summoned to the Foreign Office for the second time to be told that action to crush the protests was ‘unacceptable’.

Prisoner of war: Protesters detain a wounded policeman during clashes. It has been reported that 76 policemen are in the custody of anti-government forces Defeated: Captured police officers are led away by the protesters Anti-government protesters detain a wounded policeman (centre) during clashes in the Independence Square

Rioters hold a captured police helmet, apparently covered in blood

The White House is also urging President Yanukovych to withdraw forces from downtown Kiev immediately. Spokesman Jay Carney called for dialogue to address the people’s grievances.

But Ukraine’s defence ministry said last night that the military may use weapons against citizens committing illegal acts in order to restore peace and stability.

At the Sochi Winter Olympics, Ukrainian skier Bogdana Matsotska said she would not take part in protest at the treatment of demonstrators.