Photos: Over 20 dead as Kiev sees bloodiest day of protests
Thursday was the bloodiest day in Ukraine’s post-Soviet history: Scores of protesters were killed and hundreds were wounded by snipers on Kiev’s Independence Square and its nearby streets, according to medical workers treating the victims. Here are images from the protests.
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A general view shows anti-government protesters gathering around tents and barricades near Independence Square in central Kiev on 20 February, 2014. Ukraine suffered its bloodiest day since Soviet times on Thursday with a gun battle in central Kiev as President Viktor Yanukovich faced conflicting pressures from visiting European Union ministers and his Russian paymasters. Three hours of fierce fighting in Independence Square, which was recaptured by anti-government protesters, left the bodies of over 20 civilians strewn on the ground, a few hundred metres from where the president met the EU delegation. Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters
People pray near the bodies of anti-government protesters killed during clashes with riot police in Kiev. Stringer/Reuters
Anti-government protesters build barricades around the Independence Square during clashes with riot police in Kiev. Fresh fighting broke out in central Kiev on Thursday, shattering a truce declared by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich.Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters
A hall of the October Palace theatre is seen during clashes between anti-government protesters and riot police in Kiev. Konstantin Chernichkin/Reuters
Anti-government stand on a grass bank during clashes with riot police Independence Square in Kiev. Maks Levin/Reuters
Smoke rises above Independence Square during anti-government protests in central Kiev. Petro Zadorozhnyy/Reuters
Interior Ministry members stand in formation during clashes with anti-government protesters at Independence Square in central Kiev. Olga Yakimovich/Reuters