Police pull back as protesters claim victory after overnight face-off, opposition reaction

(11 Dec 2013) Police in Ukraine pulled back on Wednesday after a night of tense stand-offs with anti-government protesters.
In the early hours of Wednesday, authorities had moved in to the main protest camp in Independence Square and removed some barricades and tents.
They also attempted to remove demonstrators who had been occupying the capital's City Hall for weeks.
However thousands of protesters put up fierce resistance for hours, shoving back at police lines to keep them away from key sites.
Those who remained on the square after dawn cheered as police drove away.
A top opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk made it clear that though this was a step forward, they will keep putting pressure on the President Viktor Yanukovych.
"He has made any kind of negotiations nearly impossible," he said.
Throughout the standoff the police appeared to be under orders to refrain from using excessive force.
Several demonstrators and police were injured, but police helped injured activists up from the ground and moved them away.
The protests began in late November when Yanukovych backed away from a pact that would deepen the former Soviet republic's economic ties with the 28-nation European Union.
Surveys have shown the pact was supported by nearly half the country's people.
The protests are the biggest since Ukraine's pro-democracy Orange Revolution in late 2004 and early 2005.

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