KIEV, January 25 (RIA Novosti) – Protesters have surrounded the entrances of Ukraine’s Fuel and Energy Ministry in downtown Kiev, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported from the scene on Saturday.
The report came soon after an opposition leader said on national television that “activists have seized the building.”
The leader of the group Common Cause, Alexander Danilyuk, told Ukraine’s Channel 5 that “the guards did not put up a fight. We will continue our work to paralyze the central bodies of government.”
The RIA Novosti correspondent reported that several dozen protesters armed with clubs had entered the building’s courtyard, but the doors were sealed shut and the main entrance was barricaded.
Minister Eduard Stavitsky, however, attested in a statement on Saturday that “the ministry is functioning as normal.”
Protesters a day before announced that they had seized the Agrarian Policy and Food Ministry.
Dozens of demonstrators and riot police have been injured in a surge of violence that enveloped the capital Kiev last week after Ukraine’s government enacted laws severely restricting protests.
Authorities have confirmed that three protesters have been killed in the unrest, while the Ukrainian opposition claims at least three others have been killed.
No police fatalities have been reported, but many have been hospitalized with severe injuries.
In a bid to ease tensions in the country, President Viktor Yanukovych said Friday that Ukraine’s parliament next week would consider pardoning detained political activists and reshuffling the government’s top ministers.
Anti-government protesters have brought the heart of Kiev to a standstill for almost two months by occupying the central Independence Square in response to a government decision to pull back from a deal to forge closer relations with the European Union in favor of enhanced ties with Russia.
While initially focused on the EU decision, discontent in Ukraine has steadily taken on a more general anti-government character.
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