Kiev protest dispersed, death reported

Ukraine's opposition has accused President Viktor Yanukovych of fanning violent protests in Kiev. Source: AAP

UKRAINIAN police have stormed protesters' barricades in Kiev as violent clashes erupted, and activists say one person has been shot dead by security forces.

Wednesday's move by police increased tensions to a new peak after two months of protests over President Viktor Yanukovych's failure to sign a deal for closer ties with the European Union.

In chaotic scenes, police marched through the protesters' barricades on Grushevsky Street in Kiev, an AFP correspondent said.

New clashes broke out as police arrested protesters and created a large hole in the barricades, which the protesters had set up behind burnt-out wrecks of police buses.

The protesters threw petrol bombs and stones. Police responded with stun grenades and fired rubber bullets, an AFP correspondent said.

Meanwhile, the medical service of the Ukraine protest movement in Kiev said one male protester had died after being shot by a police sniper. It said the fatal wounds were "a bullet in the heart and injuries to head and neck".

The interior ministry confirmed the death but said it was not clear what had caused it, the Interfax news agency said.

The police, protected with helmets and riot shields, advanced about 50 metres towards the Dnipro Hotel, which lies at the end of Grushevsky Street.

However, police then retreated back to their former positions before new clashes erupted. Several hundred protests moved right up to the police line, without pressing any further, amid a deafening din as police banged their shields.

There was so far no move by the police against the main protest camp on Independence Square, and it was not clear if the security forces were planning a new assault.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov had warned on Tuesday the security forces could use force to disperse protests. Three nights of clashes have already left hundreds wounded.

Azarov told Russian television that if "provocateurs" did not stop, the authorities could act under controversial new laws that ban large protests in Ukraine.

Influential news site Dzerkalo Tyzhnia said authorities had already worked out a plan to regain control of the site using 8000 members of the security forces.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned on Tuesday that the situation in Ukraine was spiralling out of control after two months of protests over the president's failure to sign a deal with the European Union.

The opposition, led by three politicians including former world boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, said it was ready for dialogue but stressed it wanted to hold talks with Yanukovych, not his aides.

The opposition leaders appeared unable to have any influence on the hard core of radical protesters and stopped short of supporting their actions.

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