Barricades burn as Ukraine concessions fail

Sporadic clashes between police and protesters have spread across Ukraine despite President Viktor Yanukovych announcing concessions to demonstrators to try to restore calm to the country.

Yanukovych offered to reshuffle his government and to grant an amnesty to dozens of activists arrested during weeks of rioting that has left four protesters dead and dozens of police injured.

With the ex-Soviet state in shock after five days of deadly clashes, Yanukovych vowed to press on with talks with the opposition but warned he would use "all legal methods" if no solution was found.

The protesters occupying the city centre of the capital Kiev showed no sign of yielding and extended their barricades close to the presidential administration although an uneasy truce was still holding.

Clashes that started Sunday on Grushevsky Street on the fringes of the main protest zone in central Kiev had left five dead, according to activists.

The authorities have confirmed only that two people died from gunshot wounds: a Ukrainian of Armenian origin and a Belarussian citizen. But police insisted they were not killed by fire from security forces.

In one of the biggest blows to Yanukovych of the crisis so far, protesters seized control of regional administrations in six regions in anti-government and pro-EU western Ukraine.

These included the key Lviv region on the border with Poland which protesters stormed and seized in the first such action on Thursday.

In the western region of Ivano-Frankivsk, thousands of protesters Friday stormed the regional administration and managed to occupy two floors of the building despite clashes with police who used tear gas.

Protesters were also controlling regional administrations in Ternopil, Rivne, Khmelnytsky and Chernivtsi, all in the west of the country.

Over two months of demonstrations against Yanukovych's refusal to sign a pact with the EU have now turned into a broader movement against his four-year rule, which the opposition claims has been riddled with corruption and nepotism.

When parliament meets in an extraordinary session on Tuesday "we will take a decision about reshuffling the government," Yanukovych said at a meeting of religious leaders. He also said that parliament would discuss changes to tough anti-protest laws passed last week, which reinvigorated the protest movement.

But in an apparent warning to opposition protesters, the Ukrainian president added: "If things turn out good then all is well, but, if not, we will use all legal methods" to resolve the crisis.

Protesters in Kiev have been working flat out to protect their encampment in the heart of the city from any attempt by the authorities to use force.

Wearing helmets and improvised body armour, the Kiev protesters worked through the night to build up their existing barricades around Independence Square using tyres and sandbags filled with snow, turning the centre of Kiev into a fortress.

The prime minister of neighbouring Poland, Donald Tusk, warned there is a "black scenario that is really possible: Ukraine falling apart".

'I have fear for the future'

Protesters, who want to see radical concessions, have so far expressed bitter disappointment at the result of negotiations between the opposition and the president.

"I feel deceived. We waited all day for a result of the negotiations and we got nothing," said protester Yevgeny, 26, wearing a helmet. "I have fear now but have even more fear for the future," he added.

In a sign Yanukovych may still be in no mood to compromise, the president had earlier Friday named his hardline ally Andriy Klyuyev as the new chief of the presidential staff, replacing a more moderate figure.

Despite the palpable disappointment from the talks, a truce in the violence between protesters and police brokered by opposition leader and world boxing champion Vitali Klitschko on Thursday appeared to be holding.

Both protesters and security forces remained quietly behind their battle lines next to the stadium of the legendary Dynamo Kiev football club.

There was outrage over the behaviour of the security forces after a video posted on Thursday showed a member of Ukraine's Berkut riot police force assaulting and humiliating a naked protester after he was detained in freezing temperatures in Kiev.

Concern also grew about the fate of a prominent anti-government activist, Dmytro Bulatov, 35, who has been reported missing.

Another activist, Yuriy Verbytskiy, who was murdered and whose corpse was discovered in a forest outside Kiev was buried in his home city of Lviv Friday in hugely emotional scenes.

World leaders have condemned the violence and urged the president to hold talks. But so far Western pressure has had little impact on the standoff.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele held talks with Yanukovych in Kiev, without making any comment. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is due to visit next week.

France summoned the Ukrainian ambassador to voice its "condemnation" of the government's response to the protests in Kiev, saying security forces had been ordered to open fire on demonstrators. Germany also summoned the Ukrainian envoy.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday that the United States was in close contact with European allies to try to end the violence.

Even Hollywood star and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger stepped in, sending a video message of support to the protesters.