FINANCIAL TIMES: Anti-government protesters were pouring into Kiev on Wednesday after clashes with riot police claimed their first fatalities, prompting international expressions of alarm as a two-month-old standoff entered a violent and unpredictable new phase.
The deaths of up to five protesters after weeks of peaceful demonstrations against President Viktor Yanukovich risked inflaming the crisis still further. Analysts warned the clashes could escalate into full-blown street battles in the Ukrainian capital.
Reports suggested many more Ukrainians were trying to get to the capital, but were being held back by snowstorms and sub-zero temperatures. Numbers are expected to swell before the weekend, increasing the risks of further violence between protesters and authorities now armed with anti-protest legislation providing for long prison terms for demonstrators… (more)
EDITOR: The issue is Ukraine as a free and independent member of the European Union or Ukraine as a satelite of Russia. For those who cherish democracy, it is likely now or never.
