KIEV, December 3 (RIA Novosti) – Crowds of Ukrainian protesters blocked off government buildings in Kiev for a second day on Tuesday as public resentment continues to boil over the country’s recent refusal to sign a long-awaited economic agreement with the European Union.
Protesters blockaded entrances to the main government building and the Cabinet of Ministers as well as the Ukrainian parliament. Estimates of the number of participants ranged from several hundred to over a thousand, according to Russian media reports.
Hundreds of riot police are surrounding the Ukrainian parliament building, the local UNIAN news agency reported.
Ukrainian opposition leaders are expected to try to pass a no-confidence vote on Tuesday in parliament to force the resignation of the government and Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych.
Yanukovych put the brakes on the EU trade deal last month, saying the country's economy would suffer and pledging instead to focus on strengthening ties with Russia.
The opposition is also calling for early parliamentary and presidential elections.
The latest wave of protests, which started on November 21 in response to the U-turn, has seen tens of thousands of outraged Ukrainians flooding the streets of Kiev to demand the government's immediate resignation.
Demonstrations were largely peaceful until last weekend, when police violently cleared Kiev’s Independence Square, the focal point of the Orange Revolution of 2004-2005. City officials said Monday morning that almost 300 people had been injured in the operation, with 109 protesters and 53 police officers hospitalized.
Russian President Vladimir Putin likened the events unfolding in Ukraine to a “pogrom” on Monday, saying the demonstrations were an attempt by the country’s opposition to destabilize the existing government.
