Tensions in Ukraine spread to second major city
Source: AP-EXCITE
By YURAS KARMANAU and LAURA MILLS
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - Tensions in Ukraine spread far from its embattled capital on Thursday as hundreds of people in the city of Lviv stormed into the regional governor's office and forced him to write a letter of resignation.
Kiev, the capital, has been the epicenter of two months of protests against President Viktor Yanukovych after he turned away from closer ties to the 28-nation European Union in favor of getting a bailout loan from Russia. The protests have turned violent this week as pro-EU demonstrators feel Yanukovych has ignored their demands to resign, call a new election and rescind his harsh laws against protesters.
Lviv is one of the major cities in western Ukraine, where support for Yanukovych is thin. The governor, Oleh Salo, who was appointed by Yanukovych, later insisted he acted under duress and was rescinding his resignation.
Yanukovych on Thursday called a special parliament session for next week to discuss the tensions that have spiraled after at least two protesters were killed Wednesday in violent clashes with police. Opposition leaders had demanded that Yanukovych must make concessions by Thursday evening or face renewed clashes between protesters and police in Kiev.
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A protester throws tires onto a fire during a clash with police in central Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014. Thick black smoke from burning tires engulfed parts of downtown Kiev, as an ultimatum issued by the opposition to the president to call early election or face street rage was set to expire with no sign of a compromise on Thursday. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
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