8 Dead, Dozens Hurt as Ukraine Police Storm Protest Camp

Protesters hurled Molotov cocktails as Ukrainian riot police firing stun grenades and water cannon stormed the main anti-government protest camp Tuesday, after the bloodiest day of protests left at least eight people dead and triggered international alarm.

Police broke through barricades with armored vehicles, but faced thousands of protesters armed with stones, fireworks and petrol bombs who had refused to obey an ultimatum to evacuate Kiev's iconic Independence Square.

The European Union, United States and United Nations were among the international voices calling for calm as recent signs of reconciliation rapidly deteriorated into the deadliest day in nearly three months of protests aimed at bringing down the government of President Viktor Yanukovych.

Russia warned of a "civil war" it said was stoked by Western interference.

Earlier, opposition leader Vitali Klitschko had called on women and children to quit the encampment ahead of a police deadline calling for calm to be restored before 6:00pm (16:00 GMT).

But some 25,000 people stood their ground as police with megaphones declared the launch of an "anti-terrorist operation", raining down tear gas and stun grenades on the protesters, while a second line of police armed with Kalashnikov rifles advanced slowly into the camp.

"We will not leave here. This is an island of liberty," Klitschko told the crowd.

"The state has launched a war against its own people. Responsible democratic countries cannot stand back and let this happen."

The attack came at the end of a day of fighting that had left at least five civilians and three policemen dead, and turned central Kiev into a war zone.

Two further bodies showed no external injuries and could not immediately be linked to the clashes.

Protesters had seized back control of Kiev's city hall, with around 30 activists setting up a first aid point inside the building, which the opposition had left on Sunday as part of an amnesty deal with the authorities.

They also briefly seized Yanokuvych's party headquarters, Agence France Presse reporters said, after several hundred attacked it with petrol bombs and smashed their way inside before retreating as smoke billowed from the windows.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she was "deeply worried about the grave new escalation."

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon called for restraint and dialogue, while NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen urged "all parties to refrain from violence and to urgently resume dialogue, including through the parliamentary process."

Ukraine has been wracked by anti-government demonstrations since Yanukovych in November rejected an EU pact in favor of closer ties with historical master Russia.

In recent days, there had been signs of a thaw as protesters agreed to evacuate the city hall as part of an amnesty deal with the government.

But Monday morning brought fresh provocations, as some 20,000 mainly peaceful protesters marched from their sprawling tent encampment towards parliament to demand legislators strip the president of a raft of powers, triggering clashes with police.

By Tuesday, the clashes had turned into running street battles. Medics working at opposition-run field hospitals said that three protesters died of gunshot wounds and that around 150 others were injured, of which some 30 were in a serious condition.

Yanukovych's ruling Regions Party said that an employee at its headquarters was found dead after the seizure of the building.

Three police deaths were reported, including one who had been shot in the neck and died on his way to hospital, the interior ministry said. Dozens more were injured.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned that the violence could lead to EU sanctions against those responsible for the violence.

"Whoever is responsible for the decisions which has led to the bloodshed in Kiev and other parts of Ukraine should expect Europe to reconsider its position on imposing sanctions on individuals," he said in a statement.

But a top Russian lawmaker said Ukraine was on the brink of a civil war that has been inflamed by the West.

Alexei Pushkov, the head of the lower house's foreign affairs committee, described the violence as an attempt to "seize power through chaos and lawlessness" in comments to the Interfax news agency.

"I consider that a significant amount of responsibility for this falls on the West and Western politicians, who are constantly putting pressure on the Ukrainian authorities," Pushkov said.

Ukraine's neighbor, Poland, called for restraint. Premier Donald Tusk said he was "very much depressed by the footage" from Kiev.

As long as the violence persisted, "no Ukrainian authorities can count on any dialogue with us, anything ... this must be painfully clear," Tusk said.

Ukraine remained unrepentant, with prosecutor-general Viktor Pshonka saying he would seek the "harshest punishments for those who provoked people to carry out today's actions, those who organized it and those who directed it."