(Vatican Radio) The influential Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kyiv Patriarchate) says
it has removed prayers for the government from its liturgy after as many as 100 people
died Thursday when a truce broke down between security forces and anti-government
protesters. The clashes came while European Union ministers attempted to talk with
the embattled president Viktor Yanukovich.
Central Kyiv turned into a war zone.
Demonstrators were running for cover as snipers and other security forces attack them.
Protesters, some of them wearing helmets, rushed to carry away what appear to be dead
bodies.
At least scores of people are now known to have died after a short-lived
truce crumbled Thursday when gunfire first erupted at Independence Square, the centre
of anti-government protests.
Earlier, furious protesters tried to storm the
security services building in the western city Khmelnitsky. Soon more bloodshed unfolds.
There was panic as a woman is shot. She was lying motionless, heavily bleeding,
in front of the building.
CHURCH CONCERNED
In an unprecedented move,
the Ukrainian Orthodox Church leadership says prayers for the current government will
no longer be included in the liturgy.
Instead the denomination's ruling body,
known as the Holy Synod, advised believers to ask God to protect Ukraine and its people,
and to pray and the many victims.
It expressed concern that authorities have
reportedly begun using assault weapons, including snipers with automatic rifles, against
Ukrainian people, leaving dozens dead and hundreds injured.
The international
community has also expressed shock about the fighting. On Thursday, the German,
French and Polish Foreign Ministers met Ukraine’s embattled president Viktor Yanukovich
and were to meet the opposition as part of efforts to end the crisis.
PUTIN
ENVOY
Russian media said Russia's President Vladimir Putin also planned to
send an envoy to mediate between Ukraine's leader and the opposition, underscoring
a geopolitical battle for the future of this former Soviet nation.
Amid the
tensions, European Union ministers are considering sanctions, including possible steps
such as asset and travel bans.
The United States has already announced U.S.
visa bans on 20 Ukrainian government officials who it claims were “responsible for
ordering human rights abuses related to political oppression”.
U.S. Secretary
of State John Kerry has urged President Yanukovich to end the crackdown.
"President
Yanukovich has to decide whether he wants to protect his people, or further mayhem,"
he said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has told Russian media that
threats of sanctions are blackmail and accused the EU of arriving in Kiev on uninvited
missions.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoken with Russian President Vladimir
Putin over the situation in Ukraine, amid some concerns that Russian forces may intervene.