| KIEV, Ukraine à ‚¬" With hundreds of riot police officers advancing from all sides after a day of deadly mayhem here in the Ukrainian capital, antigovernment protesters mounted a final desperate and seemingly doomed act of defiance late on Tuesday evening, establishing a protective ring of fire around what remained of their all-but-conquered encampment in Independence Square.
The movement is protesting against President Viktor F. Yanukovych, a leader who was democratically elected in 2010 but is widely reviled as corrupt and authoritarian. Yanukovych had repeatedly pledged not to use force to disperse protesters, but after a meeting with President Putin at the opening of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, he had clearly changed his mind. The fighting broke out a day after Russia threw a new financial lifeline to Yanukovych by buying $2 billion in Ukrainian government bonds. |
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