Kiev’s pro-EU protests escalate

Hundreds of thousands of protesters poured into the streets of Ukraine’s capital yesterday, toppling a statue of former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin and blockading key government buildings in an escalating stand-off with the president over the future of the country.

The biggest demonstration in the former Soviet republic since Ukraine’s pro-democracy Orange Revolution in 2004 led the government to fire back.

It announced an investigation of opposition leaders for an alleged attempt to seize power and warned the demonstrators they could face criminal charges.