Chants of "revolution" resounded across a sea of yellow and blue Ukrainian and EU flags on the square, where the government had prohibited rallies starting Sunday. Thousands of protesters remained late into the evening and some were preparing to spend the night on the square.
The demonstration was by far the largest since the protests began more than a week ago and it carried echoes of the 2004 Orange Revolution, when tens of thousands came to the square nightly for weeks and set up a tent camp along the main street leading to the square.
The opposition leaders urged Ukrainians from all over the country to join the protests in the capital
The incident occurred when a group of demonstrators besieged the President's office and police drove them back with truncheons, tear gas and flash grenades. Dozens of people were injured.
The mass rally in central Kiev defied a government ban on protests on Independence Square, in the biggest show of anger over President Viktor Yanukovych's refusal to sign a political and economic agreement with the European Union.
Speaking before the vast crowds on Independence Square from the roof of a bus, the opposition leaders demanded that Yanukovych and his government resign.
"Our plan is clear: It's not a demonstration, it's not a reaction. It's a revolution," said Yuriy Lutsenko, a former interior minister who is now an opposition leader
Ukraine's Govt faced a tightening blockade of key buildings by protesters in the capital Kiev on Wednesday Dec 04,2013 amid a crisis over its rejection of closer ties with the European Union that has piled pressure on the creaking economy.
Protesters threatened to extend their blockade to the office of President Viktor Yanukovich, who flew to China on Tuesday dec 03,2013 leaving behind a country in turmoil over his government's decision last month to spurn a landmark EU trade accord
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