Tense standoff in Kiev on Day of Unity

Kiev activists and police were in a tense pre-dawn standoff Wednesday, Ukraine's Day of Unity. Ukraine's prime minister said police would use force against protesters if the country's unrest didn't subside and a Ukrainian ruling party member predicted the violence would escalate. The hundreds of protesters, standing under security-force spotlights amid charred remains of minibuses that formed barricades, kept up a steady beat on oil drums and occasionally threw cobblestones at a phalanx of police with riot shields standing about 20 yards away, live video of the standoff streamed by Ukrainian Espreso.TV indicated. At one point, the drumming stopped and a group of men sang a triumphal song reminiscent of "Do You Hear the People Sing?" from the musical "Les Miserables." The Kiev Post called the scene an uneasy truce as police and the increasingly militant anti-government demonstrators near Ukraine's Parliament awaited sunrise on a day officially celebrated as the Day of Unity, marking Ukraine's 1919 Unification Act. President Viktor Yanukovych's ruling Party of Regions said it anticipated the two-month confrontation, which became violent Sunday, would reach a new level of bloodshed later in the day. "The conflict's escalation is expected by the 22nd," Vadym Kolesnichenko told reporters at the non-governmental Interfax-Ukraine News Agency's Kiev office Tuesday, citing the Day of Unity. Kolesnichenko accused protesters of purposely clashing with police to provoke police to quash the dissent and thus draw condemnation from the international community. "This was a well-planned action prepared beforehand to provoke the police into resorting to an appropriate response," Kolesnichenko said. "Thanks to the fact that such events were anticipated, police just defended passively," he added. Prime Minister Mykola Azarov told state-owned Russia-24 TV news channel Ukrainian authorities would "have no other choice but to use force under the law to protect our people" if "provocateurs" did not stop inciting clashes. Opposition leaders accused the government of provoking the very violence it condemns in an effort to discredit and possibly split the protest movement. About 1,400 people have required medical attention since Sunday, protesters cited by the Wall Street Journal said. At least two people were shot in the eyes and one lost a hand, they said. Police said at least 163 officers were injured. The Interior Ministry posted photographs, including one Tuesday of an officer bleeding from his head and another engulfed in flames. The protests initially started when Yanukovych declined to sign a sweeping free-trade agreement with the European Union and instead negotiated a multibillion-dollar financial aid package from Russia. The protesters demand he and his government resign and new elections be held. Yanukovych has been president since February 2010. The protests became violent Sunday after protesters, frustrated by what they saw as opposition leaders' passive speeches at an Independence Square rally, attacked police defending a road near the Parliament and other government buildings, the Journal said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday Kiev was "spinning out of control." He blamed the United States and the EU for encouraging the fighting. Washington and Brussels had no immediate official response to Lavrov's accusation. EU officials said they never condoned or encouraged violence. EU foreign ministers said in a statement Monday the 28-member bloc remained "committed to Ukraine's political association and economic integration" with Europe "as soon as Ukraine is ready."