30.11 Ukrainian Police Break Up Pro-EU Rally

MOSCOW, November 30 (RIA Novosti) – Riot police dispersed early Saturday a protest against Ukraine’s bailing out on European integration, local media said, with reports speaking of dozens of injured and detained.

Berkut special police cracked down on protesters camping out in the Independence Square in the capital Kiev, the venue for the “Orange Revolution” of 2004, Channel 5 television said.

Police wanted the square cleared so that a Christmas tree could be set up there, Tsn.ua news website said.

Police also accused participants of the eight-day protest of “violations,” including throwing stones at officers, Liga.net said.

Berkut squads chased the fleeing protesters, beating them up with truncheons and dragging them by their feet, opposition lawmaker Andriy Shevchenko said on Twitter.

Ukrainian media also cited eyewitness accounts speaking of beatings and indiscriminate detentions at the Independence Square.

About 1,000 people were in the square at the time of the crackdown, Tsn.ua said.

Ukraine faced a wave of protests after President Viktor Yanukovych unexpectedly refused to sign a association agreement with the EU earlier this month, opting instead for an alliance with Russia.

A spate of rallies by pro-EU protesters took place across the Eastern European nation over the past week, including in Kiev, where up to 100,000 rallied last Sunday.

Street protests have brought down a previous pro-Russian regime in Ukraine in 2004. Up to 1 million people rallied at the Independence Square at the time.