Ukraine opposition seeks early polls after protest crackdown

Ukraine's opposition called for early elections after riot police brutally broke up a pro-Europe rally, leaving dozens injured in a crackdown on protests against President Viktor Yanukovych's refusal to salvage a key EU deal.
Opposition parties yesterday, also said they would form a "national resistance task force" and call a countrywide strike, as several hundred protesters took shelter in a nearby church following the pre-dawn swoop by baton-wielding police officers.
Despite the crackdown, about 10,000 protesters rallied yesterday, matching Friday's turnout, calling for the president's resignation after he left a European Union summit in Vilnius without signing a key political and free-trade deal.

The agreement would have brought Ukraine closer to the EU and away from historical master Moscow, which put pressure on the ex-Soviet country -- still reliant on Russia for energy and as an export market -- to turn its back on the deal with Brussels.
The government announced it was halting work to sign the accord a week before the summit, sparking the biggest protests in Ukraine since the 2004 pro-West Orange Revolution.
Yanukovych, the target of the protesters' anger, condemned the police violence.

"I am deeply outraged by events that took place on Independence Square overnight," the president said in a statement yesterday. "I condemn the actions which led to a confrontation and people suffering," he said, vowing that those responsible for the use of force would be punished.

"I confirm: we are united in the choice of our common European future," he added.
Protesters gathered yesterday outside the tall walls of the ancient golden-domed Mikhailovsky cathedral where several hundred injured demonstrators had been given sanctuary.
"We can and should remove these authorities," world boxing champion and opposition leader Vitali Klitschko told the rally.
Some protesters waved blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flags, while others sported the red and black banners of the ultra-nationalist Ukrainian Insurgent Army.
Drivers in passing cars also honked in solidarity.
The opposition is calling a major demonstration for today in a key test of the protest movement's ability to sustain momentum.

Thousands have been taking to the streets for daily protests across the country since the government abruptly announced on November 21 that it would not be signing the EU deal.