(AP) Ukrainian demonstrators on Wednesday forced security forces to retreat after a failed pre-dawn raid on their protest camp, in a blow to the authority of President Viktor Yanukovych after nearly three weeks of rallies against his rule.
International pressure mounted on the embattled leader with US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland visiting the protestors in Kiev and telling the president the attempted police crackdown was "inadmissable".
Several dozen were injured in the early hours of Wednesday when riot police and interior ministry special forces moved against the demonstrators who have occupied Kiev's Independence Square in anger at the rejection of an EU pact.
But rather than dispersing, thousands more protesters arrived to outnumber the security forces who were eventually forced into a humiliating retreat amid cheers from the demonstrators.
"We have not won the war yet but we've decisively won this battle. The authorities are panicking. We will continue to stand up for our country," said protester Anton Kulyk.
The police move sparked unprecedented international criticism of Yanukovych, with US Secretary of State John Kerry expressing "disgust" at the crackdown.
In an extraordinary choice of timing, the raid came as Nuland and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton were in Kiev for talks with Yanukovych.
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