Ukraine Mourns Protest Victims, Truce Declared

26 people were killed in anti-government protests in Ukraine this week. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Ukraine marks a day of mourning Thursday for the 26 people killed in riots on the streets of Kiev earlier this week.

The country's President Viktor Yanukovych has declared a truce with opposition leaders and political negotiations are set to be held for ending the bloodshed, the BBC reports.

On Wednesday night, Yanukovych fired the head of the armed forces, Volodymyr Zamana, without giving any particular reasons.

"The storming of the Maidan (Independence Square) which the authorities had planned today will not take place", said the opposition leader Areniy Yatsenyuk in connection with the truce.

Meanwhile, western leaders are discussing the possibility of employing sanctions against the Ukrainian regime, for its excessive use of violence in recent days.

Despite the declared truce, several fights broke out throughout the night at Kiev's central squares, but violence was considerably less than in the previous days.

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