KYIV. Jan 22 (Interfax) - Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has called the people involved in unrest in the center of Kyiv criminals.
"The participants in this unrest cannot be called peaceful protesters or demonstrators. These are criminals who must be held accountable for their actions," Azarov said at a government meeting on Wednesday.
"As prime minister of Ukraine, I declare officially that the casualties, who have regrettably appeared already, are on the conscience of the organizers and some participants in the mass unrest, who are responsible for this," Azarov said.
He demanded that the law enforcement agencies investigate the death of a protester during the demonstrations and said he is sure that police have nothing to do with this. "The accusations addressed to the law enforcement bodies are totally groundless, because they don't even have firearms on Hrushevsky Street," Azarov said.