In Ukraine, protesters appear to be preparing for battle

On a broad street before a row of burnt-out buses, protesters were busily digging up paving stones Monday morning so they’d be on hand if the battle with police resumes.

Others banged ceaselessly with sticks on pieces of sheet metal or with hammers on street signs. The percussive ring filled the smoky air in front of Dynamo Stadium.

Overnight, the focus of the protests against the government of President Viktor Yanukovych had switched from the well-barricaded Independence Square to the unprotected space of Grushevsky Street, where it begins its steep ascent toward the parliament building.

And young men with steel rods and a willingness to use them against the riot police had taken over the initiative from the cautious politicians who have been leading the movement.

Yanukovych appointed a committee to try to find a solution to Ukraine’s continuing crisis, and he told its members to meet Monday with the leaders of opposition parties, who clearly were dismayed by the violent turn of events.

The Interior Ministry said several dozen troops had been injured. Protesters said 30 to 40 on their side had been hurt.

The nighttime fighting was accompanied by fireworks and flash grenades, stone-throwing by protesters and forays by club-swinging police.

Yanukovych’s Party of Regions posted a statement overnight blaming the fighting on Western intelligence services, which it said had provided intensive training to the protesters.

In Washington Sunday, Caitlin Hayden, the spokeswoman for the National Security Council, criticized the government for provoking the protesters, particularly with the passage last week of harsh laws restricting freedom of speech and assembly.

But the scene at the front line suggested that neither side was in a mood to give in. Long lines of police snaked across the sloping street, behind solid walls of shields. The protesters were clearly preparing for battle, having survived and persevered through the first night of physical confrontation since an aborted attempt by police to sweep into Independence Square more than a month ago.

By Will Englund

sourche: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/in-ukraine-protesters-appear-to-be-preparing-for-battle/2014/01/20/904cdc72-81bd-11e3-9dd4-e7278db80d86_story.html