Riot police officers line up during clashes with pro-European protesters in Kiev January 22, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

BATTLE ZONE

In the worst violence that anyone can remember in Kiev, a 200-metre stretch of the city centre close to government buildings and the parliament has been turned into a battle zone as hard-core protesters, ignoring opposition leaders' pleas only for peaceful demonstration, have bombarded police with petrol bombs and cobblestones.

Riot police have replied with rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas. A group of priests held the two sides apart on Tuesday but the crowds were back on Wednesday after the deaths were reported.

Yanukovich has suggested he is ready for peace talks with the opposition but these have yet to materialise and opposition leader, boxer-turned-politician Vitaly Klitschko, returned to the barricades on Tuesday after Yanukovich refused to see him.

In a Unification Day message, Yanukovich expressed the conviction that 2014 would be a year of "mutual understanding and frank discussion about our common future".

As snow fell on Wednesday, hundreds of protesters glared at police lines across a 40-metre 'no-man's land, beating on drum barrels with sticks to mimic similar action by police on their riot shields.

Riot police, known as Berkut, staged a baton-charge to push back protesters and seized canisters of harmful chemicals they said the demonstrators had been readying to use against them.

After the Berkut withdrew, protesters returned to the spot.

Earlier on Wednesday, police, using teargas, tried to dismantle a protest camp but were repelled by demonstrators hurling home-made petrol bombs, witnesses said.

Related readings

Anti-protest laws take effect in Ukraine as violence prevails

US threatens sanctions against Ukraine

Kiev protests turn into street battles