Clashes broke out between Ukrainian ultra-nationalist demonstrators and police in central Kyiv on Sunday evening, a correspondent with the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency said.

Security forces had escorted the protesters as they marched from the Ukrainian capital's Independence or Maidan square to the offices of the president.

Ukraine: Living on the front lines Caught in the crossfire Every evening, the shelling begins around sunset. The front lines near Donetsk see nightly mortar and machine gun fire as the conflict between the Ukrainian military and pro-Russian separatists’ rages on. Caught in the crossfire are many elderly civilians who are too impoverished to go elsewhere. Ivan Polansky, above, surveys the damage on his home in Zhovanka.

Ukraine: Living on the front lines ‘Waiting for a shell’ Residents of Zhovanka in the so-called ‘gray zone,’ a thin strip of land separating warring militaries, line up to see a visiting doctor. Medics hold pop-up clinics in the town once a week. "Each day, you are waiting for the shell to land on your house and you never know when it’s going to come," said local resident Ludmila Studerikove.

Ukraine: Living on the front lines Without electricity and heating Zhovanka was once home to 1,000 people, but the number has dwindled to about 200 since the war began in mid-2014. It has been three months since residents have had electricity and gas. "Sometimes I’m so scared that I lay in bed at night and just shake,” Studerikove said. “My husband stays by my side and holds my hand."

Ukraine: Living on the front lines Nowhere else to go Olexander Voroshkov, program coordinator for the regional charity SOS Kramatorsk, said residents continue to live in half-destroyed homes with leaky roofs, even through the winters, because rent in nearby Ukrainian cities has skyrocketed since the beginning of the conflict. "Rents in Kramatorsk are now similar to those in Kiev, but the salaries are much lower than in Kiev," Voroshkov said.

Ukraine: Living on the front lines Reliance on humanitarian aid Women line up to receive medicine and multivitamins in Zhovanka. Food and humanitarian supplies are delivered to the town by charity organizations, as crossing checkpoints sometimes requires people to wait more than a day in line. "We had everything; we had fresh air, nature. It was very nice here. Now we just have the cold," said local resident Vera Sharovarova.

Ukraine: Living on the front lines Adapting to DNR frontlines Vera Anoshyna, left, speaks with neighbors in Spartak, a town in what is now the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR). Anoshyna said she has done her best to adapt to the conflict. "If you don’t have water, you find it," she said. "If you don’t have electricity, you find a solution. But you never know where the next bomb will land."

Ukraine: Living on the front lines Six broken ribs Svetlana Zavadenko stands before her home in Spartak. She was injured when the walls collapsed after several mortars exploded in her yard. Neighbors had to dig Zavadenko out of the rubble and she was sent to the hospital with six broken ribs and a ruptured liver. She smokes “Minsk” brand cigarettes and laughs when asked what she thinks about the war.

Ukraine: Living on the front lines 'We lost hope' Zavadenko recovered from her injuries and lives alone with several pets. Spartak has not had electricity, gas, or water services since 2014, so she uses a grill to cook her food. For firewood, she goes to an abandoned furniture factory nearby and collects plywood. "Last winter we thought [the war] would finish, but now, honestly, we lost hope," she said.

Ukraine: Living on the front lines Possibility of a drawdown Damage from shelling on the outskirts of Donetsk. Despite past failures in deescalating the war, a new ceasefire may be in sight after an October peace summit in Berlin, where Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he was ready to end hostilities in eastern Ukraine and would withdraw troops from the region.

Ukraine: Living on the front lines 'We lost too many soldiers to stop now' Even if both sides agree on a ceasefire, they will face opposition from their militaries, who claim their sacrifices were too heavy to simply put down their weapons. "We lost too many soldiers to stop now," said Vladimir Parkhamovich, colonel of the 81st Airmobile Brigade in the Ukrainian military. "If they give us an order [to stop] we’ll consider them traitors." Author: Diego Cupolo



"Shame on the corrupt government!," "The enemy is within!" many shouted, some hurling firecrackers before the clashes.

"Poroshenko benefits from this trade, that's why he is against the blockade," said 51-year-old protester Yevgen.

Several arrests

According to news agency AFP, at least seven protesters were detained during the demonstration by more than 1,000 people, many wearing camouflage and balaclavas.

Among those arrested was Mykola Kokhanivskyi, the head of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists.

Before the violence began, he told the crowd: "We once again warn the authorities who trade coal with the occupied territories, making cash from blood."

Sunday's violence erupted over support for a rail blockade by nationalists who have blocked coal shipments from parts of eastern Ukraine held by Russian-backed separatists.

Sunday's protests started peacefully, but later turned violent, leading to seven arrests.

The blockade, which began in late January, has led to power shortages in government-held parts of the country, leading to officials declaring a state of emergency in the energy sector.

Power cut warning

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says a blockade is the last thing the cash-strapped former Soviet state needs at this time, warning that Kyiv and other cities could be left without heating.

Poroshenko has warned that up to 300,000 jobs could be lost as factories grind to a halt without power.

Ukrainian forces have been fighting separatist rebels in the east since April 2014, a conflict that had killed more than 9,800 people, and left Kyiv without full control of its vital industrial belt.

On Monday, a new ceasefire in eastern Ukraine is expected to come into effect, after a deal was brokered at the Munich Security Conference over the weekend.

The volatile region has seen a spike in violence in recent weeks despite an earlier truce agreement.

mm/bw (AFP, AP)