Ukraine Bracing For Largest Rival-Rallies In Years

(Vatican Radio) Ukraine's opposition is preparing for the biggest anti-government protest in years despite pledges by authorities to prosecute those responsible for a previous bloody police crackdown on demonstrators.


Ukrainian authorities on Saturday conceded to one of the demands of weeks-long protests gripping the capital Kyiv. They launched an investigation against four top officials and suspended two of them over the violent police response to a small protest last month.


Additionally, a Ukrainian court freed nine people detained during the bloody clashes between pro-EU protesters and security forces.

The pro-Western protests were sparked by President Viktor Yanukovych's decision to back away from signing the European Union Association Agreement, and instead turning toward Russia.


Protesters have also demanded Yanukovych's ouster and early elections.

On Sunday, prominent U.S. Senators John McCain and Chris Murphy are expected to attend what organizers hope will be the largest anti-government rally since Ukraine's Orange Revolution in 2004.


Opposition leader and boxing champion Vitaly Klitscko said Sunday's protest in Kyiv's Independence Square follows disappointing round table meeting with the embattled president.


Klitschko said he is not satisfied with the talks AS “There was no decision on any of the opposition's key demands." He added that many people should join the protests to pressure the government. "Ukraine's leadership should listen to its people,” he warned.


While meeting the opposition, President Yanukovych tried to blame officials who prepared the EU deal, saying they may lose their jobs.


Yanukovych announced an investigation "on how the Association Agreement." He said: “Those responsible will be disbarred at the very least, and later, may even be fired.”

Yet, the president has many supporters.


Hundreds of thousands of people from across this sharply divided former Soviet nation are to attend rival rallies in Kyiv, with gatherings supporting and opposing Yanukovych happening just a few hundred meters apart in the capital.

Listen to Stefan Bos’ report: