Self-defense groups put on a rousing fireworks display several times through the early morning hours.

…and kept the fires hot

This is video footage from the morning of Jan 21, 2014  08:46
But it is worth watching here for many reasons as it gives you a sense of what it’s like on the ground in the front lines, and worth seeing the advance of the fearless self-defense groups and the retreat of Berkut. This video is of Berkut’s morning attack on Hrushevskoho street in the centre of Kyiv has appeared on the internet only today and so we put it in today’s strem. The video was taken by brave Polish journalist, Pavel Bobolovich.
The footage shows, how the security forces beat up the demonstrators and media representatives, while pushing the protesters from Hrushevskoho Street down to the hotel “Dnipro” on European Square. The security forces attack both the demonstrators and the press representatives.
30th second : A police officer hits the journalist many times with his truncheon, even though the guy is shouting “Press, “Press!”, all the time.
Source: http://glavnoe.ua/news/n162122

And the same scene from a different angle, also a brave Polish journalist, Bartłomiej Maślankiewicz :

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This VIDEO: also surfaced today only but it is as yet unclear when it was shot. PLEASE NOTE, it comes with a GRAPHIC WARNING – the captured protester was stripped, brutally beaten and humiliated by the riot police, ordering him to say “I love Berkut” in sub zero temperatures, while one of the officers video-ed it on camera.

It’s posted here for the record of abuses and atrocities that are being committed daily.

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Prominent Sumy “Party of Regions” member says that to feel his rights, 200-300 killed are needed

Alexei Movchan, Secretary of Sumy City Council (Party of Regions) believes that Ukraine will not lose anything by killing several hundred protesters.

A scan of Mr. Movchan’s social media page was published by Eugene Polozhii, Chief Editor of “Panorama” newspaper.

Mr. Movchan posted on his Facebook a photo of “Berkut” forces removing their burning clothing and wrote: “I has been condemned 300 times for the weekend just in time to condemn, because I am convinced that what is happening on Hrushevskoho – is chaos and it must be stopped by force. So here’s a photo that personally persuaded me of the correctness of it. I think that after that there is no reason not to give a command to shoot to kill. If Ukraine loses 200-300 marginals, the country will lose nothing of it. But encouragement and negotiation talk games can lead to more dire consequences.”
source: http://obkom.net.ua/news/2014-01-22/1809.shtml

German Foreign Minister Frank‑Walter Steinmeier has just been on the phone to Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara. He released the following statement on the difficult situation in Ukraine on the fringes of the Syria Conference in Montreux today (22 January):

“These are terrible pictures that have been emerging from the Ukrainian capital overnight. This morning’s reports of deaths are devastating. I can understand the Opposition’s sense of frustration, when they have been feeling for days and weeks that nothing is changing, that the Government and the President have not given any meaningful ground.

That said, we hold and will stand by the view that violence is not a solution. We direct that message to both sides. To President Yanukovych, however, we also clearly state that it will not do to make the response of Ukraine’s leaders a violent one that brings more people to harm. The Government has a duty to protect the peaceful demonstrations.”
Source: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10152156648010801&id=635416686497814

Self-defense groups create car tire smoke barricade against Berkut into the morning.

Protesters, police on Hrushevskoho Street agree on temporary truce at Klitschko’s request

Protesters and police officers, at the request of UDAR Party leader Vitaliy Klitschko, have agreed on temporary truce until 8 p.m. on Jan. 23.
© AFP

Protesters and police officers, at the request of UDAR Party leader Vitaliy Klitschko, have agreed on a “period of silence” until 8 p.m. on Jan. 23, when, according to the politician, he will come to protesters again and report on the results of talks between opposition leaders and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

source: http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/protesters-police-on-hrushevskoho-street-agree-on-temporary-truce-at-klitschkos-request-335424.html

Truce holding, will last until 8 p.m. today

1:50 p.m, Jan. 23 — Opposition leader Vitali Klitschko’s request that police and protesters cease hostilities, at least until 8 p.m. today, seems to be holding. The standoff is relatively uneventful today. The political opposition is trying to persuade President Viktor Yanukovych to hold a snap presidential election this year as a way to defuse the nation’s two-month-old political crisis. If Yanukovych does not agree, opposition leaders have pledged to step up protests and enlist the support of as many people in the nation as possible. — Brian Bonner

Fires being put out during truce that started this morning to go until 8pm today.

AutoMaidan activists recount their troubles

1:38 p.m., Jan. 23 — From a briefing on last night’s ambush by police of an AutoMaidan patrol, given by co-leader Oleksandr Khrytsenko and activists Kateryna Butko and Yuriy Tebenko: 15 men attacked and beaten in Mariinsky Park; women released. All 15 AutoMaidan male activists were detained in various Kyiv police departments. Two are Oleksandr Krovtsov and Volodymyr Zelentsov. Some 9-10 vehicles have windows smashed and blown out tires. Singer Ruslana calls the attack a carefully planned ambush. — Mark Rachkevych
Source: http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/euromaidan-rallies-in-ukraine-jan-23-live-updates-335389.html  

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There was a high level phone call between EU Commission President Barroso and Ukraine President Yanukovych today, which resulted in the following statement from the EUC President:

European Commission
MEMO

Brussels, 23 January 2014

Phone call between President Barroso and President Yanukovych on the situation in Ukraine

In light of the escalating violence in Ukraine, President Barroso telephoned President Yanukovych of Ukraine this morning.

During the telephone call, President Barroso made notably the following points:

President Barroso deplored in the strongest possible terms the escalation of violence, and reports of violence against journalists, and expressed great concerns about the reports on missing persons. The use of force is not the answer to the political situation in Ukraine.

He urged President Yanukovych to start immediately a dialogue at the highest level with the opposition. This is the President’s role as Ukraine’s Head of State.

President Barroso recalled that, if the situation in Ukraine is not stabilised, the EU would assess possible consequences for bilateral relations.

In addition, he highlighted the EU’s readiness to assist in the political dialogue and in the de-escalation of the situation. To this end, Commissioner Füle will travel to Kiev tomorrow, and HRVP Ashton may travel to Kiev next week.

In response, President Yanukovych made the following commitments:

President Yanukovych stated that he was committed to the high level dialogue requested by President Barroso.

He confirmed to President Barroso that there would not be at this moment a declaration of a state of emergency.

President Yanukovych also agreed to meet HRVP Ashton and Commissioner Füle in Ukraine.
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There were also reports from Opposition leader Parubiy that police are packing flash bangs with nuts and bolts to inflict more damage on civilians.

Flashbang packed with nuts and bolts and taped

EU’s Stefan Fule tweeted 2 hours ago that he is going to Ukraine tomorrow:

Meanwhile in Lviv: 3 government buildings are taken over by Euromaidan protesters.

#Lviv protesters have occupied Lviv Region Administration iPress.ua http://ipress.ua/news/lvivyany_zahopyly_oblderzhadministratsiyu_40651.html …

Lviv’s governor was forced to resign and sign in the streets! Talk about Sich.

ppl are being attacked,kidnapped,beaten in the forests.Europe,pls don’t be surpr.we don’t want negotiations.can’t you see what Yanuk’s doing

Leader and one of the organizers of Euromaidan, Dmytro Bulatov, is reported missing.

And journalists, whose PRESS jackets and cameras make them targets rather than protect them, are now fashioning their own protective eye goggles and camera covers:

Prominent journalist Vitaliy Portnikov has left Ukraine, along with other activists, and Bloomberg warns of a refugee crisis risk as clashes escalate: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-22/poland-warns-of-refugee-crisis-risk-as-ukraine-clashes-escalate.html

During during three days on Hrushevskoho str., 42 journalists became victims of riot police. via @ukrpravda_news These are the before and after shots of Lviv journalist Alexey B. Kurkino @AlexeyB_Kurkino: 

Petro Poroshenko, a billionaire, longtime politician, and former foreign minister, took the lead and urged the U.S. to freeze the assets of and launch money-laundering investigations into members of the Ukrainian government in response to the deaths.

The U.S. embassy in Kiev on Wednesday announced it had “revoked the visas of several Ukrainians who were linked to the violence.” Poroshenko urged the U.S. to go further. “This morning, at 8 a.m., 100 meters from me, a peaceful protester was shot dead,” Poroshenko told BuzzFeed at Davos, to where he had flown earlier Wednesday.

He called on the U.S. and EU to coordinate sanctions against Ukraine’s government, and said the fact that protesters had been peacefully demonstrating since November proved they did not provoke the violence that hit Kiev this week.
source: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=554664144629927&set=a.523254484437560.1073741828.523004674462541&type=1

Petro Poroshenko, is a Ukrainian businessman and politician sometimes cited as one of the most influential people in Ukrainian politics. From February 2007 till March 2012 Poroshenko headed the Council of Ukraine’s National Bank.

It would be remiss of us if we didn’t add that today, the Vicar of Kyiv-Pecherska Lavra, the Metropolitan of Chernobyl and Vyshgorod (Moscow partiarchy), sovereign Bishop Pavel (in the world – Lebed) assured the President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, of his support. [yes, that’s the Church giving the President 100% of its support folks], but why stop there?

The Vicar of Lavra compared Yanukovych with Christ, and said that he was with him “to the end.”
We’re not sure if Yanukovych could keep a straight face or not throughout all that but they did embrace and kiss warmly.
source: https://maidantranslations.wordpress.com/2014/01/23/bishop-lebed-compares-yanukovych-with-christ-carrying-a-heavy-cross-and-pledges-the-churchs-support-till-the-end/

People like statistics so let’s have a look at the last 2 days in stats for a bit of a sobering ending:

And still to look forward to: a new round of #Euromaidan Klitschko’s and the Opposition’s peace talks with president Yanukovych started at 5:30PM Kyiv time, half an hour ago. We shall see by 20:00pm whether Kyiv is in for another night of fires and violence and more deaths or if a resolution, an early election or other concessions, can be wrangled…stay tuned.

Euromaidan now, @ 6pm:

Euromaidan, 5:56pm. January 23, 2014

So, Maidan voted.
In a majority vote it was decided on Maidan.
At 01:00am Kyiv time – it’s war going forward.

Clear the criminals out of government or nothing. The Ukrainian people have had enough. Opposition leaders Arseniy Yatseniuk and Oleh Tyahnybok called for discipline and unity, one united battle, going forward.