A pro-European demonstration in Kiev has to an abrupt end: special police stormed the protest against President Yanukovych. Numerous people were injured.

Police in the Ukrainian capital cleared the landmark Independence Square of pro-EU demonstrators on Saturday morning. Reportedly, police used tear gas and clubs, while protesters threw stones at law enforcement.

Authorities in Kiev stepped in to disperse demonstrators at around 4:30 am local time (02:30 GMT). According to opposition activists, around 1,000 policemen from the special task force, Berkut, armed with clubs and shields swept Independence Square clear of the remaining demonstrators that had chosen to stay overnight in the capital’s downtown area.

The square was surrounded by police early in the morning and mobile phone communication in the area was suppressed.

According to one of the protest organizers, police used tear gas and swung clubs at protesters, Sergey Milnichenko told the AP. The demonstrators reportedly stoned police buses in return. Some demonstrators were detained and taken into custody, activists reported. No information about anybody being injured in the action is available at the moment.

Authorities told the Interfax-Ukraine news agency that the decision to break up the protests came after“a number of incidents and clashes” between pro-EU supporters and the police. During the demonstration protesters threw rocks and fireworks at police and activists also damaged a police bus.

Police actions followed large-scale demonstrations earlier on Friday that had gathered an estimated 10,000 people, calling for the resignation of President Viktor Yanukovych as he refused to sign the association agreement with the EU.

Arseny Yatsenyuk, leader of the pro-Western faction opposition and a former minister of economy, has announced that opposition forces have decided to form a ‘national resistance command’ to organize and coordinate a Ukrainian national strike.

Yatsenyuk stressed that the initiative is supported among other opposition factions. The politician has once again the responsibility for police action against pro-EU demonstrators in Kiev lies with the country’s president and Minister of Interior Vitaly Zakharchenko.

Earlier the leader of the liberal Udar Party, former boxing champion Vitaly Klitschko, announced his intention to move for early presidential and parliamentary elections in Ukraine.

The EU delegation to Ukraine issued a statement calling on the Ukrainian authorities to refrain from using force on protesters.

Deputy of the liberal UDAR party, Rostislav Pavlenko, told the Interfax-Ukraine that opposition leaders were preparing a fast response to the issues surrounding the dispersal of the demonstration in Kiev.

“We cannot allow ourselves to follow the example of Belarus and Russia – therefore we need actions, not words. And the actions will follow quickly,” Pavlenko promised.

In an interview published on Friday, the US Ambassador to Ukraine, Jeffrey Payette, warned against using force against protesters in Ukraine, mentioning “serious consequences” on the part of Washington if this condition is not met.

On Friday Ukraine rejected a key integration deal with Europe, as the opposition held large rallies in protest against the rejection.

The deal was rejected in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, where European leaders gathered. Unlike Moldova, Azerbaijan and Georgia, which signed the first documents towards association agreements with the EU, Ukraine stuck to its decision not to integrate with the union.

Even after announcing that there would be no deal, Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovich went to the summit to personally explain his government’s move. He said it would be too painful for the Ukrainian economy to start association agreements with the EU now.

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