The number of casualties in the Kiev violent clashes rose to 38. The Ukrainian press reported that 13 protesters were killed by snipers near Ukraine Hotel in the morning of February 20. According to eyewitnesses, the snipers fire even at doctors who take those injured away, IPN reports.
The police pulled out from the Maidan. Many of the Berkut employees yielded up the guns. The protesters besieged the Parliament Building and the authorities ordered the immediate evacuation of those inside. The police left the building.
The press reported that a member of the party Batkivshchina was killed, while the party’s office in Odessa was set on fire. All the courts of all in Kiev were closed.
President Viktor Yanukovych is having meetings with a number of European ministers.
