Loki
12-01-2013, 12:52 PM
Ukraine protesters storm Kiev city council (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25176191)
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71459000/jpg/_71459264_71459263.jpg
Protesters in Ukraine have stormed the Kiev city council building as they oppose the government's decision not to sign a deal on closer EU ties.
Police are massing outside the building but they have yet to move in.
It comes as thousands of people have been marching to the capital's Independence Square defying a ban.
Protesters want the resignation of the government and new elections. President Viktor Yanukovych says Russian pressure was behind his decision not to sign.
The BBC's David Stern in the Ukrainian capital reports from outside the city council head office that protesters broke windows to get inside the building.
Ambulances were pulling up outside the building and there was an acrid smell of smoke, he says.
The protests started more than a week ago after President Yanukovych suspended preparations for signing an EU association agreement that would have opened borders to goods and set the stage for an easing of travel restrictions.
Mr Yanukovych argued that Ukraine could not afford to sacrifice trade with Russia, which opposed the deal.
Jailed opposition leader and ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko earlier urged Ukrainians "not to leave the authorities' actions unanswered".
She has been on hunger strike since Monday over the failure to sign the EU agreement.
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71459000/jpg/_71459264_71459263.jpg
Protesters in Ukraine have stormed the Kiev city council building as they oppose the government's decision not to sign a deal on closer EU ties.
Police are massing outside the building but they have yet to move in.
It comes as thousands of people have been marching to the capital's Independence Square defying a ban.
Protesters want the resignation of the government and new elections. President Viktor Yanukovych says Russian pressure was behind his decision not to sign.
The BBC's David Stern in the Ukrainian capital reports from outside the city council head office that protesters broke windows to get inside the building.
Ambulances were pulling up outside the building and there was an acrid smell of smoke, he says.
The protests started more than a week ago after President Yanukovych suspended preparations for signing an EU association agreement that would have opened borders to goods and set the stage for an easing of travel restrictions.
Mr Yanukovych argued that Ukraine could not afford to sacrifice trade with Russia, which opposed the deal.
Jailed opposition leader and ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko earlier urged Ukrainians "not to leave the authorities' actions unanswered".
She has been on hunger strike since Monday over the failure to sign the EU agreement.