Ukrainian authorities on Saturday attempted to appease anti-government protesters who have been demonstrating in the center of the capital for weeks by opening investigations against four top officials over the violent break-up of a small rally last month.
But opposition leaders dismissed the move as a half-measure and around 100,000 protesters turned out in Kiev’s central square to demand that the president and the government resign.
The brutal police raid in the early hours of Nov. 30 galvanized the pro-Western protests sparked by President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to back away from signing a key integration treaty with the European Union and instead turn toward Russia. Since that day’s violence, protesters have also been demanding Yanukovych’s ouster and early elections.
Yanukovych, who had initially been dismissive of the protest movement, announced Saturday that he had indefinitely suspended two officials, Kiev city manager Oleksandr Popov and deputy national security chief Volodymyr Syvkovych, over allegations about their role in last month’s crackdown. Two others are under investigation.
But the opposition is demanding the resignation of all members of the Cabinet, saying they are responsible for the Nov. 30 raid. Opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk called for early presidential and parliamentary elections so that Ukrainians can elect new leaders who will sign the EU agreement.
“We have forced Yanukovych to make concessions,” Yatsenyuk told the crowd. “Today’s dismissals are just the first steps to punish those who are responsible for violence.”
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Earlier in the day, tens of thousands of government supporters gathered in the center of Kiev for a large counter-rally in a square adjacent to the opposition rally on Saturday. The two demonstrations were peaceful, but the atmosphere was tense as rows of riot police and barricades erected by opposition protesters separated the groups.
Some in the pro-government crowd admitted to having been bused in and paid to participate.
Oleh Koloburda, a 43-year-old miner from the Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine, Yanukovych’s stronghold, said he was paid $25 and brought here by bus. “I believe in Yanukovych with my entire soul. We chose him. He is one of us,” Koloburda said. The rally ended after several hours.
Later in the evening, tens of thousands opposition activists thronged Independence Square to press on with their demands.
“Ukrainians have a European history, European culture and music,” said Volodymyr Shedko, 36. “What we have left to do is to return a European style of government to Ukraine.”
Kiev has been rocked by protests since Nov. 21, when the government announced it was shelving the economic and political treaty with the European Union, after strong pressure from Russia, which had worked aggressively to derail the deal.
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