Violence Rages in Ukrainian Capital for Second Night

Fighting between protesters and riot police in the center of the Ukrainian capital continued Tuesday as the worst street violence the former Soviet country has seen since anti-government demonstrations began in November stretched into a second night. Rioters threw Molotov cocktails, stones and fireworks at police lines, and law enforcement officers responded with plastic bullets, stun grenades and arrests. Vehicles were also set alight during the clashes, which took place in temperatures of minus 10 degrees Celsius. A wooden catapult built to bombard police lines was destroyed by riot police in an operation early Tuesday morning during which officers hurled stones at protesters to temporarily force them back. Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said over a hundred law enforcement officers have been injured in the fighting, while city officials said 104 protesters have been hurt and 44 hospitalized. Opposition activists have kept the heart of Kiev at a standstill since late November when they occupied the central Independence Square in response to a government decision to pull back from economic integration with the EU in favor of closer economic ties with Russia. While initially focused on the EU decision, discontent in Ukraine has steadily taken on a more general anti-government character.

http://en.ria.ru/world/20140121/186754876/Violence-Rages-in-Ukrainian-Capital-for-Second-Night.html
http://rt.com/news/ukraine-clashes-kiev-molotov-907/ (video)

UPDATE:
120 policemen and 100 protesters are injured in clashes
http://lenta.ru/news/2014/01/21/militia/