Thousands of Ukrainian opposition activists have rallied in central Kyiv, calling on parliament to adopt legislation on presidential impeachment.

Police said the demonstration organized by Mikheil Saakashvili’s Movement of New Forces party attracted 2,500 people, but local reports said about 5,000 people participated.

Addressing the protest, Saakashvili urged Ukrainians to gather in Kyiv's central Independence Square on December 10 if lawmakers fail to deliver their demand.

The demonstrators dispersed peacefully after marching through the city center and holding a rally on European Square.

Following the demonstration, dozens of people in camouflage and with balaclavas blocked the entrance to the NewsOne television outlet with sacks of sand and barbed wires.



They demanded that the station change its editorial policies and that its owner, opposition parliament member Yevhen Murayev, apologize for remarks that they regarded as disrespectful of the Euromaidan protests, which pushed President Viktor Yanukovych from power in February 2014.



The broadcaster said it was targeted by "radicals" because it was the "only channel" that covered the rally organized by Saakashvili's party.

Antigovernment protesters set up a tent city outside the parliament building on October 17, calling for the cancellation of parliamentary immunity, the creation of an anticorruption court, amendments to election laws, and legislation on the impeachment of the president.

The protests were initially called by Saakashvili, a onetime ally of President Petro Poroshenko, but many of Ukraine's opposition political leaders have also joined the demonstrations.

From 2004 to 2013, Saakashvili was president of Georgia, where he is wanted on suspicion of trying to organize a coup there after his exit from office, allegations he denies.

In 2015, he was appointed by Poroshenko to be governor of the Odesa region and surrendered his Georgian citizenship to take the post.

However, Saakashvili resigned in November 2016, saying his reform efforts had been blocked by Poroshenko's allies.

Saakashvili was then stripped of Ukrainian citizenship by Poroshenko in June 2017 in a move he is challenging in court.

Poroshenko has said the real goal of the protest organizers is to destabilize Ukraine.

