Post Election Violence In Ukraine

Smoke bombs and tear gas were thrown during the violent clashes this morning. It came after Ukraine's parliament voted for constitutional changes to give its eastern regions a special status that it hopes will blunt their separatist drive



Anger: Protesters fired at least one smoke grenade that sent up a cloud of black smoke outside the building




















Clashes: Police fired tear gas at protesters this morning before a grenade was thrown outside the parliament buildings




Several people were seen bleeding and lying on the ground in front of the parliament building amid reports of 'several' explosions



A number of police and national guard members were hit by shrapnel when the grenade exploded



Officials said there are dozens wounded outside the parliament including several people in critical condition



Ukrainian servicemen carry an injured comrade away from the parliament building in Kiev, Ukraine after the grenade blast



Smoke rises from the parliament building in Kiev as activists of radical Ukrainian parties, including the Ukrainian nationalist party Svoboda (Freedom), clash with police officers


Violence: The weapon was used amid demonstrations against a draft law to give special status to separatist regions


Many officers were left with bad injuries after a series of explosions near the parliament building



A wounded officer with blood on his arms and hands is carried to safety by colleagues amid violent scenes in Kiev

Ugly scenes: Street battles broke out between dozens of demonstrators and police outside parliament

'More than 30 people have already been detained. More to come,' Avakov said on Facebook, adding that people who threw 'several' explosive devices wore T-shirts with the logo of the Svoboda nationalist party.

Avakov said the protester who had thrown the grenade had been also detained.

He said the authorities had confiscated several grenades including an F-1 grenade which Avakov noted had a maximum radius to cause death and injury.

'Investigation and punishment will be unavoidable,' he said, calling the clashes an 'anti-Ukrainian war'.

Oksana Blyshchyk, a spokeswoman for Kiev police, said separately that around 100 police were injured including 10 in critical condition. 

Kiev mayor Vitali Klitschko described the clashes as 'a bloody provocation' and called for the prosecution of the attackers

were injured when a grenade was thrown from a crowd of nationalist protesters

At a stormy session, a total of 265 deputies voted in favour in the first reading of a 'decentralisation' bill, backed by President Petro Poroshenko's political bloc and his government - 39 more than that required to go through.

But many coalition allies, including former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, spoke against the changes and it is open to question whether Poroshenko will be able to whip up the necessary 300 votes for it to get through a second and final reading later this year.

Approval of legislation for special status for parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which are largely controlled by Russian-backed separatists, is a major element of a peace agreement reached in Minsk, Belarus, in February.

A fragile ceasefire is under pressure from sporadic shelling and shooting which government troops and rebels blame on each other. 

Police officers give medical aid to a colleague after as violence erupts in the Ukraine capital




Stand-off: Protesters wielding sticks and shields were involved in clashes with police throughout the morning



Explosion: At least 90 people have been injured after the grenade blast outside the parliament buildings

Kiev mayor Vitali Klitschko described the clashes as 'a bloody provocation' and called for the prosecution of the attackers

French journalist Antoine Delaunay wrote on Twitter that he 'took a rock' to his face. At least one photographer was also lightly injured 

Protesters fired at least one smoke grenade that sent up a cloud of black smoke outside the building. Tear gas was used by both sides, witnesses said.

No injuries were immediately reported among the approximately 100 protesters, most of whom were members of Svoboda, a nationalist party that holds only a handful of seats in parliament. The protesters were carrying sticks and truncheons. Some of them were masked.

Kiev mayor Vitali Klitschko described the clashes as 'a bloody provocation' and called for the prosecution of the attackers.

It came after Ukraine's parliament voted for constitutional changes to give its eastern regions a special status that it hopes will blunt their separatist drive.