Anti-government protesters take part in training exercises using shields to prevent police attacks on Independence Square in Kiev yesterday.
KIEV: Ukraine yesterday said the introduction of a state of emergency was not yet on the agenda after radicals seized the justice ministry in Kiev in an attack that raised concerns of a derailing of talks to ease the crisis.
The Ukrainian parliament today was due to meet to discuss concessions proposed by President Viktor Yanukovich, in a highly anticipated extraordinary session that could be a make-or-break moment to resolve the standoff.
Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara told reporters yesterday: “Today we are not considering the introduction of a state of emergency. Today, this measure is not on the table.”
Amid a febrile atmosphere in Kiev, the Dzerkalo Tyzhnia news website reported the cabinet was preparing a decree for a state of emergency which would restrict movement on some Kiev streets.
Tensions remained high in Kiev after several dozen radical protesters seized control of the justice ministry late Sunday.
Justice Minister Olena Lukash, who is taking part in the negotiations with the opposition, said she would ask for the talks to be broken off if the building was not freed.
If the protesters do not vacate the building, Lukash said she would also approach Ukraine’s national security council with “a demand to discuss imposing a state of emergency in this country,” Lukash told Ukraine’s Inter channel.
After occupying the premises for over 12 hours, the activists walked out of the building but dozens dressed in battle fatigues still blocked the front entrance, an AFP correspondent said.
Opposition leaders said in a joint statement that they were still open to negotiations “despite an attempt by the authorities to abandon the negotiations and declare a state of emergency”.
The statement confirmed the justice ministry building had now been emptied of protesters, whose action had been seen as a dangerous provocation by many within the mainstream opposition.
Protesters now control much of the city centre of Kiev around a hub on Independence Square, with their camp protected by barricades several metres high and guarded by activists dressed in balaclavas and armed with baseball bats.
Meanwhile, injured anti-government protesters fearing arrest are shunning Kiev’s hospitals and choosing to undergo operations in field clinics run by an army of volunteer doctors.
Since clashes between activists and security forces worsened last week, doctors have faced more serious injuries, colds and frostbite from the searing cold escalating to flesh wounds, gas burns and concussions from the violence.
“When I worked in the emergency ward, any injuries caused by suspicious violence had to be reported,” said Aleksandr Pyvovarov, 32, a former emergency physician from Kiev.
“The people know this and they would rather get treatment on the streets than go to jail.”
Videos posted online on Thursday show police raiding an emergency ward in Kiev and arresting injured activists in their beds. An EU Delegation to Ukraine has expressed concern about “deteriorating Human Rights” in the country.
“Arrests of wounded people in front of clinics... can be accepted under no circumstances,” it said in a statement.
Doctors at the hospitals fear losing their jobs if they discuss the arrests, said Pyvovarov who has friends working on the wards.
“Not everybody agrees with these protests,” he added. “They think they are criminals making trouble.”
Kiev City Police declined to comment.
Pyvovarov is part of a team of ten volunteer doctors based at two medical points at the main flashpoint near Dynamo Kiev football stadium.
Distinguished by red crosses taped on battered plastic helmets, they work on the front line of barricades to provide first aid to injured activists.
Protesters continue to demand the resignation of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich after two months occupying central Kiev. Radical far-right groups took the protests further following the introduction of sweeping anti-protest legislation, and have clashed with police since December 19, to the alarm of Western governments.
“The injuries have got much worse,” said Pyvovarov. “We used to be treating colds and hypothermia, now I see stuff straight from a war zone. Flesh wounds, gas burns, shrapnel in the eye and even some amputations.”
Protestors accuse police of deliberately aiming rubber bullets at head height, targeting medics on the battlefield and taping nails to stun grenades to create lethal weapons. Fifty percent of patients in the field hospitals are head and face injuries.
Police officers have been hurt at the hands of protestors who hurl rocks and Molotov cocktails across a barricade of burning tyres. “I am officially stating that these are criminals who must answer for their actions,” said Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov last week.
Agencies
