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Ukraine is feared to be on the brink of civil war tonight after nine people were killed during the bloodiest day of anti-government protests.

Riot police used rubber bullets and stun grenades as petrol bombs were thrown by demonstrators at cops in Kiev.

At least nine people, including two policemen, are believed to have been killed as thousands of protesters marched towards parliament.

The clashes in Independence Square came as MPs were due to debate changes to the constitution to curb the powers of President Viktor Yanukovych.

But the opposition claimed they were blocked from submitting the bill, and the debate didn’t take place.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she was “deeply worried” by the escalation of violence, and urged politicians to “address the root causes”.

Russia blamed the upsurge in violence on “connivance by Western politicians and European structures” and their refusal to consider the “aggressive actions” of radical factions within the protest movement.

(Image: Reuters)

The authorities have vowed "grave actions" during the latest protests. Today has been branded the worst day of turmoil in four months of unrest as riot troops armed with Kalashnikov firearms were massing in central Kiev amid fears of a ruthless Tiananmen Square-style reaction by the country's hardline pro-Moscow leader Viktor Yanukovych.

But opposition groups showed no sign of caving in to the threats of a crackdown as military aircraft ominously buzzed the city.

Yanukovych's security henchmen even set a deadline of 6pm tonight for protests to halt and demonstrators to clear the streets.

Pro-Western politician Vitali Klitschko, the former heavyweight boxer seen as unofficial leader of the opposition, urged women and children to leave the main protest camp on Kiev's Independence Square - known as Maidan - as riot police massed nearby.

There were also claims armoured military vehicles were heading to the city centre.

He pleaded:" "We ask women and children to quit Maidan as we cannot rule out the possibility that they will storm the camp," he said.

The US, EU and NATO issued desperate pleas on Yanukovych to step back from using force to end the protests engulfing Kiev and other cities as he viwed to restore order at any cost.

In scenes which could have come out of a war zone field hospitals were set up in the centre of a European capital as emergency medics said three protesters had died of gunshot wounds.

But there were also government claims 13 police offices had suffered gun wounds.

Yanukovych's ruling Regions Party said one worker its headquarters was also found dead after protesters briefly seized the building.

Police said that 47 servicemen had been injured, in pitch battles underway close to Ukraine's parliament building.

Ukraine's interior ministry and state security agency warned in a joint ultimatum to the opposition:" If unrest continues we will be forced to take grave actions."

Moscow blamed the escalation as a "direct result of connivance by Western politicians and European structures that have shut their eyes ... to the aggressive actions of radical forces".

Western sources in turn accuse Russian President Vladimir Putin of pulling the strings with his ally Yanukovych.

The violence erupted amid opposition fears that Yanukovych - who this week accepted a $2 billion - £1.2 billion- bailout from the Kremlin was preparing to ditch a plan to offer places in government to his rivals and lean instead towards Russia by appointing a new hardline prime minister.

Unrest ignited today as parliament was meeting to discuss the political crisis and rival offers of support from Moscow and Brussels.

Opposition groups shouted "Shame!" and hurled stones at police, setting trucks blocking their way on fire.

Riot police retaliated with stun grenades and fired small metal balls, as smoke from burning tyres and vehicles billowed over the besieged capital city.

Vitali Klitschko called on Yanukovych to agree to the reforms and to call an early election or face a serious escalation of the crisis.

"We are talking minutes, not hours," said the retired boxer who is seen by many as a future president of the deeply divided country.

He also called for parliament to set up a rival government to take power.

"I am appealing to the Ukrainian president: please remove the Berkut special forces and Interior Troops from the streets," he said.

"Parliament should form a new government, and we, as the opposition, are ready to take responsibility for its formation."

But Yanukovych appeared tonight to be lurching towards the view of Russian hardliners, and bent on restoring order.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk, leader of the opposition Fatherland faction in parliament, warned he and others would not be cowed.

"We are a peaceful protest for our rights. For the right of there being no dictators in Ukraine.

"Today the name of the dictator is Viktor Yanukovych, and we as the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian opposition demand that the right to manage the country be immediately returned to the Ukrainian people.

"We see that this regime is not ready for any compromises. We see that this regime has once again started firing on people. They want to drown Ukraine in blood. We will not fall for any of their acts of provocation.

"We will not retreat a single step from here, from this Maydan. We have nowhere to retreat to, Ukraine is behind us, and Ukraine's future is behind us. No fear, only faith in our strength, only solidarity and unity, only mutual support."

As the deadline passed tonight some 25,000 people were gathered eye to eye with heavily armed troops.

Protesters were pulling up paving stones and piling them in heaps in case of attack by Berkut special forces troops. Activists set fire to two KamAZ trucks in central Kiev.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she was "deeply worried about the grave new escalation", saying in a statement that she condemned "all use of violence, including against public or party buildings."

NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he was "seriously concerned" and urged "all parties to refrain from violence and to urgently resume dialogue, including through the parliamentary process."

Washington called on Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to "end" violence in Kiev and said it was appalled by fatal clashes between riot police and demonstrators.

"We urge President Yanukovych to immediately de-escalate the situation and end the confrontation at Maidan," said Laura Lucas Magnuson, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council.

At issue in a country ethnically divided between Ukrainians and Russians is the future direction.

Moscow is against its former Soviet partner forging closer ties with the EU but most ethnic Ukrainians want to look West not East.