LB.ua chronicles the latest events in Ukraine in English for foreign readers.
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On January 16 The Verkhovna Rada adopted more than a dozen of controversial amendments to the law 'On the Judicial System and Status of Judges' and the procedural laws regarding additional measures to protect the safety of citizens. Most opposition politicians, international organizations and European countries consider these laws a violation of basic constitutional rights of 45 million citizens of Ukraine.
On Sunday, January 19, clashes broke out between Euromaidan protesters and police on Hrushevskoho Street in the centre of Kyiv, after radical protesters decided to break through the police cordon in the direction of the Government House and the Verkhovna Rada.
Police used stun and gas grenades, as well as tear gas. Protesters threw stones at the enforcers. Unrest on Hrushevskoho Street continues for the 8th day.
Six people were killed in clashes on Hrushevskoho Street, but only two deaths were confirmed officially. According to coordinator of Euromaidan medical services Oleg Musiy, four of them died of bullet wounds - to the head, heart, chest and neck.
Now opposition leaders - Arseniy Yatsenyuk ('Batkivshchyna'), Vitali Klitschko ('UDAR') and Oleg Tyagnibok ('Svoboda') - are trying to put an end to the political crisis in Ukraine and bloodshed on Hrushevskoho Street.
On Friday, January 24, Euromaidan supporters started seizing buildings of regional state administration all over Ukraine. Some of the attempts were successful.
In the late evening on January 24 clashes on Hrushevskoho Street resumed.
President Viktor Yanukovich offered the opposition several top government posts on Saturday, January 25. Thus, Yanukovich offered Arseny Yatsenyuk the post of prime minister to replace Nykolai Azarov, whose government would be expected to resign. Vitali Klitschko, a former international boxing champion, would be appointed deputy prime minister responsible for humanitarian issues. But opposition leaders, supported by thousands of protesters massing in Kyiv's city centre, continued to press for further concessions, including early elections and the repeal of an anti-protest law.
At the same time, Ukraine's interior minister said that all those who occupied public buildings and stayed on Kyiv's Independence Square would be considered to be 'extremist groups' by police. According to him, police would use force against those who went over to the side of the radical protesters, who have clashed with police in front of the football stadium since last Sunday.
00:03. About 50 Euromaidan activists of social movement 'Spilna sprava' ("Common cause') captured premises of the Ministry of Justice, wrote coordinator of the movement Alexander Danyluk on his Facebook page.
00:24. Six journalists were wounded during the confrontation of opposition activists and security forces near the Dnepropetrovsk regional administration's building. Four of them sought medical help.
They all have suffered at the hands of 'titushki' (AntiMaidan activists).
'Operator Sergei Kochet was wounded in the back from a traumatic weapon, operator Daniil Peterimov received a hand injury. Journalist Natalia Svetlova received bruises and abrasions from blows with sticks. In addition, the attackers smashed our camera crew', says a statement on the site of '34 channel' http://34.ua/.
Another operator of the central channel received a neck injury. 'Titushki' threw stone at him.
Antimaidan activists also smashed a laptop belonging to Yaroslav Markin, journalist of the newspaper 'Vesti', and threatened Natalia Belovitskaya, journalist of the newspaper 'Uryadoviy Kurier' ('Governmental Courier').
Police officers, who saw this, didn't react.
00:51. Law enforcers are storming the Cherkassy regional state administration's building, occupied by opposition activists. 12 activists have been detained.
01:16. About 1500 Euromaidan activists remain on Hrushevskoho Street in Kyiv - site of numerous clashes between protesters and security forces.
01:35. Kyiv's 'Ukrainian House', occupied by opposition, will house press center and catering point for protesters to warm up since the temperature in Kyiv is 15 degrees below zero.
Protesters will also have a possibility to receive medical help there.
01:58. According to Ukraine's Interior Ministry, protesters threw grenade RGD-5 at law enforcers while storming 'Ukrainian House', which was seized by activists at night on January 26.
02:45. 'Berkut' riot police has started forceful dispersal of protesters who earlier seized the building of the regional state administration in Sumy.
04:10. Justice Minister Elena Lukash appealed to the President and the National Security and Defense Council with a request to impose a state of emergency if protesters do not immediately leave the building of the justice ministry in Kyiv.
04:30. Ukraine's Interior Ministry is investigating the seizure of the premises of the Ministry of Justice in Kyiv by protesters.
05:17. Police detained 37 protesters for attempted assault of the Dnepropetrovsk regional administration's building.
06:07. Protesters are building a new barricade near the justice ministry in Kyiv. (pictures)
08:29. The EU embassy in Ukraine is concerned about the deteriorating human rights situation in Ukraine.
08:50. Advisor to the President and Head of the Main Department of the constitutional and legal modernization of Presidential Administration Marina Stavniichuk believes that the laws adopted on January 16 should be repealed.
09:16. Journalist Dmitriy Smolienko was beaten by 'Berkut' riot police employees and athletes hired by Ukrainian authorities during the violent dispersal of a rally at the Zaporozhye regional administration's building.
09:37. The assault of the Cherkasy regional state administration's building on the night on January 27 was a provocation to substitute Kyiv's AutoMaidan, wrote opposition activist Nikolai Liakhovich.
10:00. In the night on January 27 police detained one of AutoMaidan coordinators, Sergei Hadzhinov, in Cherkassy.
10:24. The Regions Party appealed to Kyiv's prosecutor's office demanding to investigate actions of so called 'people's radas' - parallel local governments, which are created in the field.
10:38. Russia's Foreign Ministry expressed its indignation at the actions of demonstrators throwing Molotov cocktails at police.
10:59. Lvov has established the 'National Guard of Ukraine', which is said to be engaged in 'protection of citizens'. According to 'Vgolos', which refers to members of the initiative group of Svyatoslav Yavoriv, 'guard' has included people who legally own firearms.
'We are not extremists, we are no threat to anyone, but we'll give an adequate response to looters, betrayers or people, who will commit violence and lawlessness', said Yavorivskiy. He also encouraged Ukrainians to create similar associations in other parts of the country.
11:00. Events on Hrushevskoho Street on January 24-27 in pictures.
11:16. About one thousand supporters of the Party of Regions are holding a rally in support of the authorities at the building of the regional state administration in Zaporozhye.
11:34. Crimean organization of the Regions Party will send two thousand people to Kyiv for a rally near the parliament's building, which will be held on January 28th, when the Verkhovna Rada will consider the situation in the country at the extraordinary session.
11:49. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said France hopes that Ukraine will soon make concrete steps to resolve the political crisis in the country.
12:05. Kyiv's prosecutor's office closed 35 criminal proceedings related to the mass actions in November-December 2013.
12:37. The EU delegation to Ukraine calls on the authorities to take measures to ensure full transparency in trials of detained activists.
12:57. Ukraine's Interior Ministry is verifying the information that is available in the account of 'Ukrainian Insurgent Army' (UPA) in one of the social networks. According to this info, the organization takes responsibility for the murder of a policeman near 'Berkut' hostel in Goloseyevsky district of the capital.
A body of a policeman with a gunshot wound to the head was found in Goloseyevsky district on January 24. There are no suspects at the moment.
The account of 'Ukrainian Insurgent Army' in Facebook was created on January 25. On January 26 it was reported that the 'UPA' takes responsibility for the murder of the 27 year-old staff sergeant.
13:20. 'The seizure of objects of strategic importance - the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Energy - by activists of the 'Spilna Sprava' ('Common Cause') civil movement became an occasion for the development of two special operations in the nearest future. One of them, under codename 'Wave', will be carried out by the Interior Ministry, the second - by the Ukrainian Security Service', wrote Ukrainian MP Gennady Moskal on his Facebook page, referring to high-ranking officers of the Interior Ministry of Ukraine.
13:20. At a meeting with President Viktor Yanukovich on Saturday, January 25, the Party of Regions MPs called for the resignation of Nikolay Azarov's government due to corruption.
13:22. Activist and journalist of 'Traffic Control' Andrei Dzindzya has been released from custody.
13:24. A dead body was found at about 12:30 in the construction of Christmas tree on Kyiv's Independence Square.
Police officers are working at the scene, which is surrounded by Euromaidan self-defence activists.
According to preliminary reports, a resident of the Volyn region born in 1958 hanged himself.
13:35. Opposition activist Andrei Dzindzya stated that he has a video, which witnessed what actually happened on Bankova Street on December 1, when a group of opposition protesters assaulted the presidential administration's building. He also promised that all involved in the illegal arrests of activists would be punished.
13:46. Foreign diplomats, who are in Ukraine, have been informed of a possible emergency state in the country, according to a source of the 'Ukrainskaya Pravda' ('Ukrainian Truth') in one of the embassies.
13:53. Activists of the 'Spilna Sprava' ('Common Cause') civil movement have decided to leave the building of the justice ministry in Kyiv.
13:55. Boxer Vladimir Klitschko appealed to the leaders of the West to support Ukrainian people.
14:05. One of the young men shot dead on Hrushevskoho Street, 20-year-old Sergei Nigoyan, was buried yesterday, on January 26, in the village of Bereznuvatovka in Dnipropetrovsk region.
Sergei Nigoyan's funeral http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBFSMeXgEVI
14:11. European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Fule arrives in Kyiv today.
14:20. Protesters have peacefully seized the premises of the Chernihov's regional council. Police didn't prevent them.
14:26. The Communist Party leader Pyotr Simonenko believes that many forces inside the country and abroad may use the political and social conflict in Ukraine to split it.
14:37. The Maidan is not involved in the seizure of the building of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, stated commandant of the House of Trade Unions, the opposition 'Batkivshchyna' party MP Stepan Kubiv.
14:45. About 400 representatives of the Maidan self-defense came to the Ministry of Justice to monitor the process of liberation of the building by Alexander Danyluk and activists of his civil movement the 'Spilna Sprava' ('Common Cause'). (pictures)
15:02. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will hold an unscheduled inspection Ukrainian nuclear facilities.
15:03. A session of the Lvov regional council, which was scheduled for January 28, was postponed sine die.
15:11. The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, has registered a draft resolution on early elections of deputies of the parliament and local councils.
15:32. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen called on the parties of the the conflict in Ukraine for a constructive dialogue.
15:42. Today hackers broke into the website of the Zaporozhye city hall. Hackers posted several videos, including brutal dispersal of opposition activists near the Zaporozhye regional state administration's building, on the main page of the website.
15:55. Police detained chairman of the Zaporozhye regional organization of the party 'Svoboda' Vitaliy Podlobnikov, who was one of the co-organizers of Euromaidan in Zaporozhye.
According to police, he's a suspect in case of an 'attempt to capture the state or public buildings or structures' in Zaporozhye on January 26, and thus he may be sentenced for imprisonment for a term of three to six years.
16:14. The opposition says it's ready to continue negotiations with the authorities to prevent further escalation and to preserve the unity of the country.
16:24. Ukrainian MP, chairman of the Committee on National Security and Defence Vladimir Litvin says that the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine doesn't have enough votes (226) for the imposition of a state of emergency in the country.
16:50. The Interior Ministry troops rest in the secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. They sleep on mattresses on the floor in the hallway, right under the offices of officials and on the stairwell. This is evidenced by a video published on Bogdan Yaryomenko's Facebook page.
16:58. Italian artist Alessandro Raushmann organized an artistic action in solidarity with the Ukrainian Maidan in Berlin. (pictures)
17:05. Chief Editor of news portal 'News of Donbass' Alexei Matsuka declared a disappearance of journalist Katerina Zhemchuzhnikova and several Euromaidan activists.
17:09. According to the monthly study held by GfK company Ukraine, refusal to sign an Association Agreement with the EU sharply worsened consumer sentiment in Ukraine. Its index fell from 85.5 points to 80.3 in December.
17:09. The Regions Party faction in the Lvov regional council decided to disband.
17:18. Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of Crimea decided to ban the activities of the party and the symbols of the 'Svoboda' All-Ukrainian Union in the region, since, according to the deputies of the republic, the party is a threat to national harmony and public safety.
17:37. In case of declaration of a state of emergency in Ukraine the European Union may impose sanctions against the Ukrainian authorities, reported Deutsche Welle, citing its own diplomatic sources in Brussels.
17:42. 'All the conflicts that arise must be resolved peacefully through negotiations, there should be a law and order', wrote Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Vilkul in Facebook.
18:07. The Dniprovskiy district court of Kyiv changed the measure of restraint for operator of 'Spilnobachennya' channel Vladimir Karagyauru from detention in jail to house arrest.
18:10. Opposition activist Andrei Dzindzya after his release from custody said he was kept in jail along with life prisoners.
According to the draft project, any legal person may raise the issue of blocking websites by sending a written request to the experts. Also the issue of restricting access to Internet resources can be raised by the National Commission for Communications Regulation (NCCIR) and the experts themselves.
18:29. The opposition should not agree to a package of concessions offered by the authorities and insist on radical changes in the countr, stated former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in an open letter, published on her official website.
18:40. President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovich and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon discussed the political situation in Ukraine in a telephone situation.
Ban Ki-moon is ready to send special envoy to Ukraine to help resolve the conflict.
18:54. Talks have begun between President Viktor Yanukovich and a working group for settling the political crisis on the one hand, and the leaders of the parliamentary opposition factions - on the other hand. l
19:09. The question of resignation of Prime Minister Nykolai Azarov won't be discussed during an extraordinary session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, scheduled for January 28, stated the Regions Party MP Mikhail Chechetov.
19:16. Activists, in particular, members of the 'Spilna Sprava' ('Common Cause') civil movement, headed by Alexander Danyluk, completely liberated building of the Ministry of Justice, reported the press office of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry.
19:21. The opposition has created a National Rada in Kyiv.
'Kyiv's Natonal Rada is guided by the city community interests', says a statement of the press service of the opposition 'Batkivschyna' party.
19:39. Head of the 'Spilna Sprava' ('Common Cause') civil movement Alexander Danyluk claims that Kyiv-based Boryspil international airport customs planted a white powder to his wife.
'Friends, all those who can - to Borispol. I need your help!', Wrote Danyluk in Facebook.
19:48. The headquarters of the national resistance urges Kyivites to come to Kyiv's Independence Square on January 28 at 12.00.
20:10. Six districts of Lvov region and Lvov have already officially recognized the authority of the National Rada of Ukraine (created by the opposition in contrast to the Verkhovna Rada).
20:22. The Party of Regions will hold an emergency meeting of the leaders of its primary organizations from all over Ukaine in Kharkov to discuss the ways to protect governmental buildings captured by protesters, stated Kharkov region Governor Mikhail Dobkin.
20:33. Kyiv's Obolonskiy district court released 72-year-old Euromaidan activist Nikolai Danilovich Pasechnik. He was suspected of assaulting 'Berkut' riot police fighters and was sentenced to two months of detention.
20:52. About 400 'titushki' are in the building and near the Kyiv regional administration to protect the institution from possible assault by Euromaidan activists.
21:10. Ternopol city council recognized the People's (National) Rada as an official authority.
21:24. There are about two thousand protesters on Hrushevskoho Street and near Dynamo Stadiun in Kyiv at the moment.
21:49. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is concerned with the information on plans of the Cabinet of Ministers og Ukraine to impose a state of emergency.
22:10. The Council of Europe calls on the Ukrainian authorities to cancel scandalous laws adopted on January 16.
22:22. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Swiss President Didier Burkhalter that the Kremlin is against external intervention in the situation in Ukraine.
22:38. Individual MP Sergey Mishchenko offered the Verkhovna Rada to ban voting by raising hands.
22:52. Ukraine unilaterally introduced new rules for crossing the border for the citizens of other countries. Now when entering the Ukrainian territory foreigner must pass an interview and present a 'financial security', the minimum size of which is about €400 at a one-day visit.
23:10. The President and the opposition agreed to cancel scandalous laws adopted on January 16.
23:15. Opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk rejected President Yanukovich's offer to appoint him prime minister.
23:33. Ukrainian authorities and the opposition to vote on so-called 'amnesty law'. According to Justice Minister Elena Lukash, the amnesty will come into force only when the opposition leaves all the captured areas and roads.
23:55. The U.S. condemns seizure of governmental buildings in Ukraine by radical opposition, said State Department spokesman Jen Psaki at a briefing on Monday.
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