Kiev unrest death toll rises to 25

Anti-government protesters stand in a line in central Kiev February 19, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

PRAYING FOR UKRAINE

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele said he had spoken to Ukraine's acting prime minister, who had given assurances that the authorities would try to avoid using live firearms.

"For the sake of the Ukrainians and for the sake of the future of that country, I will pray that he is right," Fuele told a public event in Brussels.

A police spokeswoman gave a variety of reasons for the deaths including gunshot wounds, a traffic accident and heart attacks. One protester died in a fire.

Right Sector, a militant far-right group, added to tension by urging people holding weapons to go to Independence Square, also known as Maidan, to protect it from the security forces.

As protesters and police battled, Russia called the escalation a "direct result of connivance by Western politicians and European structures that have shut their eyes ... to the aggressive actions of radical forces".

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for restraint, said his spokesman, Martin Nesirky, adding: "He is extremely concerned over today's reports of renewed violence and fatalities."

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who has tried to broker a power-sharing transition, urged Ukraine's leadership "to address the root causes of the crisis".

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier telephoned his Ukrainian counterpart to warn against sliding back into violence and to urge the government to keep working for a political solution.

"News of a fresh escalation of violence is alarming. We are shocked to hear of the dead and injured today," Steinmeier said in a statement, raising the possibility of EU sanctions against Ukrainian leaders.

"Those responsible for taking any decisions that lead to the further spilling of blood must know that the reserve Europe has shown in terms of personal sanctions will be reconsidered."

Monday's $2 billion cash injection, a resumption of a $15 billion aid package, was seen as a signal that Russia believed Yanukovich had a plan to end the protests and had dropped any idea of bringing opposition leaders into government.

While Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to have won the battle for influence in Ukraine for now, the protesters are not going quietly.

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