Riots in Kiev

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Protests in Kiev, the capital of the Ukraine, continue as Russia defers sending financial aid, reports the New York Times. Despite Russia’s President Vladimir Putin having assured members of the European Union summit in Brussels that financial aid would continue being sent to the Ukraine, the measures have currently been halted. The change in policy was announced in a cabinet meeting in Moscow when prime minister Medvedev stated that aid should not be sent until it was certain which party would wind up in power. As a result, $2 million in aid will not be provided in order to help with the $2.7 billion debt. Commentators say this may be an attempt on Russia’s behalf to keep economic pressure on Ukrainian president Yanukovych into not compromising with the opposition.

In the meantime violence between the two anti-government factions continues, leaving five wounded on Wednesday when fights broke out in an occupied government building. Rubber bullets were fired, the stairs were made too slick to walk safely with water and glass and broken furniture littered the hallways. The fight may be attributed to increased pressure on the more moderate opposition’s leaders to regain control of the streets.

Anti-government protesters had suspicions of cellphone tracking confirmed, thus also confirming political profiling and leading to further arrests. Kyivstar, a major cellphone company, had been ordered by a city court to release data on all cellphones that were active during the anti-government protest on Jan 10th. The order did not cover the area of the main protest, which took place in Independence Square. As of now, no end to the protests are in sight and a former president of the Ukraine Leonid Kravchuk warns that the country may be on the brink of a civil war.