At least 25 people have been killed in Kiev as the Ukrainian capital plunges back into chaos. Rioters have attacked police, seized buildings, torched vehicles, and burned tires

At least 25 people have been killed in Kiev as the Ukrainian capital plunges back into chaos. Rioters have attacked police, seized buildings, torched vehicles, and burned tires.

Nine policemen were among the dead, all of whom died from gunshot wounds.

As dawn rose over Kiev's battered city centre, protesters hurled paving stones and Molotov cocktails at lines of riot police that had pushed into the heart of the devastated protest camp on Independence Square.
  
Overnight, security forces rained a volley of tear gas down on thousands of demonstrators as they ramped up attempts to clear the square where protesters have set up a sprawling tent city during three months of protests.

In an address to the nation as clashes raged, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich said making public appeals to arm the opposition has crossed the line.

“This is a glaring violation of the law. The offenders must appear before a tribunal which will determine the measure of punishment for them. This is not my caprice, it is my duty as a guarantor of the Constitution - to ensure peace in the country, the peace of the citizens and justice for everyone,” the statement says.

The leaders of the opposition should immediately dissociate from the radicals provoking bloodshed and clashes with law enforcement, demanded Yanukovich.

“If they do not wish to abide, they ought to declare that they support the radicals. In that case they would be treated respectively,” the president declared.