Protests Against President of Ukraine Turn Violent

A tribute Friday to Ukraine’s most famous poet turned into the bloodiest protest in a 3-month-old campaign against President Leonid D. Kuchma, with several people injured as demonstrators hurled bottles and a Molotov cocktail and riot police used tear gas.

Snaking across Kiev, the capital, the protests grew throughout the day, swelling to as many as 18,000 people, police said--a huge gathering for this usually quiet city. Dozens of protesters were arrested, and thousands of police officers were deployed throughout the city. The injured included six police officers, several protesters and a photographer.

The violence, which broke out after a series of previously peaceful rallies demanding Kuchma’s ouster, took protest leaders by surprise. The campaign was sparked in December by accusations that Kuchma was involved in the killing of a journalist who was harshly critical of the president. The protests have been fueled by anger at Kuchma’s failure to solve Ukraine’s economic ills.

“No one expected that people would be beaten,” said frazzled campaign organizer Yuri Lutsenko, who called repeatedly for calm. “We did everything to prevent bloodshed.”

Friday’s protest was the bloodiest in Kiev since 1995, when police outside St. Sophia Cathedral beat demonstrators trying to bury Orthodox Patriarch Volodymyr at an unauthorized site.

Last week, President Bush sent a message to Kuchma warning that pressure on protesters was testing his commitment to democracy. The message carried an implicit warning that Kuchma was risking loss of U.S. aid.

The protesters have united Ukrainians from across the political spectrum, but Friday’s unrest was started largely by hard-line nationalists.

It began with Kuchma’s traditional wreath-laying at a monument in a small park to Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko--a hero of nationalists--on his 187th birthday.

The ceremony carried extra weight this year because of the mounting opposition to Kuchma. Thousands of police officers encircled the park to prevent demonstrators from blocking the president.