Tear gas, truncheons, and black smoke. After months of peaceful protests, the streets of Kiev descended into violence this week as police and demonstrators clashed. The chaos followed closely on the heels of the government’s passage of a raft of repressive new laws criminalizing the demonstrations. Ukrainians, worried about their country’s authoritarian turn under President Viktor Yanukovych, did not yield, and the protests that were once confined to the capital’s Maidan are spreading across the country. Fears are now rising that this country that once appeared to be on the cusp of joining the European Union could become Europe’s newest dictatorship.
Protesters gather in front of burning tires during clashes with riot police in Kiev, Ukraine, on Jan. 23, 2014.
Photo by Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters
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Police officers block the street near a government building on Jan. 24, 2014, in Kiev.
Photo by Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images
A protester holds a flare as he stands on a police bus during a rally in Kiev on Jan. 19, 2014.
Photo by Gleb Garanich/Reuters
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A protester points a gun during clashes with riot police in the center of Kiev on Jan. 22, 2014.
Photo by Vasily Maximov/AFP/Getty Images
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A protester throws a stone near burning tires during clashes with riot police in Kiev on Jan. 22, 2014.
Photo by Dmitri Serebryakov/AFP/Getty Images
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A priest holds an icon at a barricade of the anti-government demonstrators in the center of Kiev on Jan. 24, 2014.
Photo by Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images
Opposition leader Vitaly Klitschko, center, talks with anti-government protesters at the site of clashes with riot police in Kiev on Jan. 23, 2014.
Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters
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Smoke from burning tires blankets the Maidan Nezalezhnosti, or Independence Square, with anti-government protesters camped in central Kiev on Jan. 23, 2014.
Photo by Gleb Garanich/Reuters
National and opposition parties’ flags fly at the Maidan on Jan. 23, 2014.
Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters
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A bare-chested man waves a Ukrainian flag during clashes between the opposition and police in the center of Kiev on Jan. 20, 2014.
Photo by Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images
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Police block the road near government buildings on Jan. 24, 2014, in Kiev.
Photo by Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images
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A protester wearing a gas mask stands amid burnt tires and garbage following clashes between pro-EU demonstrators and riot police in Kiev on Jan. 23, 2014.