Ukraine government dispatches thugs in capital, allows excess police force

Clashes continued into the early morning of Jan. 21 between opposition protesters, police and state-sponsored thugs. The government dispatched hundreds of thugs, known as “titushky,” to reign terror on the capital’s streets throughout the early morning of Jan. 21, news reports said. To prevent the thugs from inflicting damage, EuroMaidan activists chased them and captured some, led by Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform (UDAR) Head Vitali Klitschko. They told him they received orders  to smash cars and store windows, block roads and beat EuroMaidan supporters.

Video and eyewitness accounts mounted of excessive police force and brutality since Jan. 19. Last night, police reportedly hurled their own Molotov cocktails and fired their guns at television reporters, reported blogger Oleksandr Aronets. Police reportedly beat and tortured protesters that they captured during the Jan. 19-20 clashes. Video evidence also surfaced of police aiming at their guns at cameramen in the early morning and daytime on Jan. 20. More than 30 journalists have been injured since Jan. 19. Reporter Pavlo Ivanov demonstrated wounds from rubber bullets to his forehead, chin and a damaged eye.

More than 200 protesters were reported to have been injured during the Jan. 19-20 violence. Many suffered shrapnel to their face and some lost an eye. Throughout Jan. 20 and 21, protesters continued to attack police by hurling cobblestones and Molotov cocktails. Police have reportedly begun resorting to metal bullets.

Two state newspapers published the so-called “dictatorship laws” approved by parliament last week and signed by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych on Jan. 18. Their publishing means the laws take effect immediately, forbidding many of the peaceful protest techniques developed by the EuroMaidan, such as protest caravans to the residences of key state officials and oligarchs and merely gathering in groups of people. The laws also create the possibility of eliminating Internet access.

Zenon Zawada: The administration of President Viktor Yanukovych has taken steps that have led to conditions of chaos in Ukraine’s capital, giving it the pretext of establishing some form of a state of emergency. With the dictatorship laws in place, a violent raid on the EuroMaidan appears to be on the horizon. We see little hope for the negotiations being arranged currently between the opposition and the government as Yanukovych is unlikely to resign as a result.