An estimated 70,000 pro-Western Ukrainians thronged the heart of Kiev today vowing never to give up their drive to oust President Viktor Yanukovych for his alliance with old master Russia.
Wearing blue and yellow ribbons -- the colours of both Ukraine and the European Union -- the crowd received a religious blessing before opposition leaders took to a podium on Independence Square in a bid to ratchet up pressure on Yanukovych to appoint a new pro-Western government.
"None of the kidnappings and tortures have yielded any results," said Igor Lutsenko, an activist who survived a severe beating after reportedly being abducted from hospital during deadly unrest in January.
The ex-Soviet nation of 46 million people has been in chaos since November when Yanukovych ditched an historic EU trade and political pact in favour of closer ties with Moscow, stunning pro-EU parts of the population and sparking violent protests.
Since then, what started out as a localised, domestic bout of unrest has snowballed into a titanic tussle for Ukraine's future between Russia and the West, as demonstrations continued and spread to other parts of the country.
After initially ignoring protesters' demands, Yanukovych has since yielded some ground by dismissing the government. But he also has to appease Russia, which has effectively frozen a sorely-needed USD 15-billion bailout until the situation clears up.
Moscow has so far issued only one USD 3.0-billion instalment of the loan, which it promised to Yanukovych after he rejected the EU pact.
"People must stay on the streets until the end, otherwise there will be reprisals. And the opposition must be more resolved, not limit themselves to speeches on the podium. We need early presidential elections and a new constitution," Anna Rebenok, a young secretary, told AFP on the square.
"Otherwise, everything will stay the same".
The protest is the 10th major demonstration since November, and the size of the crowds Sunday roughly equalled the turnout last weekend, although it was markedly lower than at the end of January, when violence left several people dead.
