Deadly clashes erupted in the Ukrainian capital Kiev early Thursday morning, with at least 35 protesters confirmed dead by Mashable, many from gunshot wounds. The spasm of violence shattered a truce called late Wednesday night by opposition members and the president.
Bells from nearby St. Michael's Monastery rang out as a barrage of gunfire from police snipers perched atop central buildings rained down on protesters at central Independence Square, the epicenter of the anti-government protests that are now in their third month.
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After dawn, protesters systematically pushed back police from their lines on Institutska Street and positions alongside October Palace. They hurled Molotov Cocktails and stones and fired air rifles at police. Several protesters were seen by Mashable using handguns. It is unclear what type of ammunition was being used by them.
#Yanukovych blames today's escalation of violence on the opposition. 'They attacked us,' he says, reports @ukrpravda_news #ukraine
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) February 20, 2014
Protesters set fire to a police bus at October Palace, forcing police to retreat toward parliament just after 9 a.m.
Snipers continued to fire at protesters on the square, though, from perches atop Ukraina Hotel and adjacent buildings.
Several dozen bodies were carried on stretchers from the front lines to medical centers inside Kiev City Hall and the Central Post Office. Mashable counted the bodies of 35 protesters in total. Protesters laid them out and draped Ukrainian flags over their bodies.
A priest said prayers for three dead on Khreschatyk Street as one man cried out for his deceased "brother."
"Our heroes! They killed our heroes!" he screamed.
A gruesome mix of blood, fuel and ash covered the square. The clashes lessened some after 10 a.m. Protesters worked to rebuild barricades on Institutska Street and Khreschatyk Street on the European Square side, using wooden planks, park benches, flower planters and paving stones.
At least 50 Interior Ministry officers were captured by protesters during the morning clashes and marched single-file down central Khreschatyk Street to the National Energy Company building.
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Christopher J. Miller is an editor at English-language newspaper the Kyiv Post in Ukraine.