A medic has said at least 60 protesters have been killed in fresh clashes between thousands of demonstrators and heavily-armed riot police in the heart of the Ukrainian capital.
There was no immediate independent confirmation of the death toll.
The bodies of eight demonstrators were lying outside Kiev’s main post office on Independence Square, an AFP reporter said.
The bodies of 17 other demonstrators with apparent gunshot wounds were also seen in the vicinity of two hotels on opposite sides of the protest encampment.
Ukraine’s police force has been armed with combat weapons, the country’s acting interior minister said.
“I signed an order and police have been given combat weapons, which will be used in accordance with the law,” Vitaly Zakharschenko said in a statement published on the ministry website, RTE informs.
