Ukraine Authorities Storm Opposition Party Offices

Hundreds of riot police were deployed earlier Monday as tensions run high

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Sergei Grits / AP

A man wearing Ukrainian national flag walks past riot police as they block the road next to Pro-European Union activists gathered on the Independence Square in Kiev, Dec. 9, 2013.

Police stormed the office of the Ukrainian opposition party on Monday, a party member told the Associated Press, potentially escalating a tense showdown between authorities and opposition protesters.

Hundreds of riot police surrounded protesters earlier Monday following massive demonstrations Sunday. The country, in its third week of mass protests, faces the largest upheaval since the Orange Revolution nearly a decade ago, as the opposition calls for closer ties with the European Union and a shift away from Russia.

Ostap Semerak of the Fatherland Party told the AP that the situation at the party office in Kiev was “crazy,” with troops walking along the corridors and climbing through windows.

Earlier Monday, President Viktor Yanukovych said he had agreed to talks with three former presidents in a sign of potential negotiations.

[AP]