UKRAINE-CRISIS/STATUS-BLAST-CLASHES Ukrainian guardsman dies in protests against vote on rebel autonomy

Record ID: 140606

  • Title: UKRAINE-CRISIS/STATUS-BLAST-CLASHES Ukrainian guardsman dies in protests against vote on rebel autonomy
  • Date: 31st August 2015
  • Summary: NATIONAL GUARDS CARRYING WOUNDED SOLDIER ON STRETCHER
  • Embargoed: 15th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ukraine
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAC9Z1RMRGOVME9QJ7VO19YT7TJ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS PROFANITY AND GRAPHIC IMAGES
    A Ukrainian national guardsman died on Monday (August 31) during violent protests outside parliament in Kiev, as lawmakers voted to give more autonomy to rebel-held areas in the east of the country.
    Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, in a tweet, said nearly 90 national guardsmen had been hurt, four of them with serious wounds to the eyes, stomach, neck and legs, by several explosive devices that were lobbed at them from crowds massed outside.
    National guardsmen and police officers were seen attending to the wounded amid clouds of tear gas. Puddles of blood and discarded equipment were strewn on the ground.
    The violence, which Interior Minister Arsen Avakov blamed on the main nationalist party, and division in the pro-Western camp in parliament suggested President Petro Poroshenko faces an uphill battle to push through key parts of a faltering peace agreement reached in February for eastern Ukraine.
    Poroshenko's spokesman said the president would address the nation later on Monday following the clashes outside parliament, where deputies loyal to him managed to push through a first reading of a "decentralisation" draft law - but only in the face of strong criticism from some of his political allies.
    The violence came after the deputies voted by 265 in favour of the first reading of the bill - 39 more than that required to pass - at a boisterous session with many deputies shouting "Shame!" and rhythmically beating parliamentary benches.
    Opponents of the bill said it played into Russia's hands and would lead ultimately to Ukraine losing control over the Donbass - the name given to the industrialised east, swathes of which are controlled by separatists now.
    Approval of legislation for special status for parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which are largely controlled by Russian-backed separatists, is a key element of a peace agreement reached in Minsk, Belarus, in February.
    Though a ceasefire is under pressure from sporadic shelling and shooting which government troops and rebels blame on each other, Western governments see the deal as holding out the best possible prospects for peace and are urging Ukraine to abide by the letter of the Minsk agreement.
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