Has the Final Battle Started?

UKRAINE - In Brief 18 Feb 2014 by Dmytro Boyarchuk

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Every war has its crucial battle, a battle that will show who is who and what is what. It is difficult to say when it will start and who will win. But it is always clear that after such a battle life will never be the same. It looks that final battle has started in Kyiv. Today protesters marched to the Parliament building (so called “peaceful assault”) to support voting for constitutional change that opposition proposed to adopt. And clashes with police resumed. Effectively, in few hours the center of the city transformed into a real battle scene. So far three people have been killed and hundreds wounded. It is difficult to say who will win: protesters do not have weapons while police do not have enough forces. Still it is clear that after such events there will be either change of power or the state of emergency will be imposed. Many say that police started shooting with battle bullets. The “right sector”, radical wing of Maidan, already called for gun owners to gather at Maidan for defending against police. We expect more aggressive actions unfolding at the city by the end of the day. The outcome of this day is unclear.