Interior Ministry members clash with anti-government protesters during a rally in Kiev, on Feb. 18, 2014.
At least nine people have died after the revolution in Ukraine reignited in a new wave of violence.
On Tuesday morning, huge columns of protestors marched out from their barricaded encampment in the center of the capital, Kiev, and surrounded the parliament building while the chamber was in session. Police responded with stun grenades and rubber bullets, while protestors reportedly set fire to the headquarters of President Viktor Yanukovych’s ruling political party.
Kiev police said at least nine people died in the violence, including two police officers, with dozens injured. The government has shut down subway stations in the city capital in order to quell violence.
In late January, protest leaders called for the clashes with police to stop as they attempted to negotiate a solution to the crisis. Their demands included the formation of a new government led by one of the leaders of the opposition, as well as sweeping reforms that would put Ukraine back on a path toward integration with the E.U. The President’s decision to scrap an E.U. association deal in favor of closer ties with Moscow sparked the uprising against him in November.
But on Tuesday, after negotiations failed to meet the demands of the uprising, the violence resumed. Protestors set fire to piles of tires in the center of Kiev, while images posted on Twitter by the revolutionary activists appeared to show riot police on fire, a scene that became familiar in Kiev in January after protestors began throwing Molotov cocktails at groups of officers.