Ukraine, Ukase, U Have Seen This Before

An anti-government protester is engulfed in flames. Photograph: Efrem Lukatsky/AP

It's getting nasty in Ukraine:

Three months of confrontation in Ukraine between the president and a large protest movement reached its peak on Tuesday night in the worst bloodshed since the country separated from Moscow more than two decades ago, with more than 20 people reported killed as riot police moved in to clear Kiev's Independence Square, the crucible of the anti-government activism.

Hopes for a settlement of the crisis went up in smoke amid scenes of rioting, burning buildings, police bombings and rubber bullets that also left up to 500 people injured.

A large section of the protest camp in the capital, Kiev, was engulfed in flames on Tuesday night as police advanced on the demonstrators using water cannons and stun grenades.

The question here, as it has been for the last 20 years, is which way will Ukraine go? Will it face the West, or will it remain part of the Russian orbit? The current president, who was elected in 2010 on what he assumed would be a "one man, one vote, one time" basis, is (a) an ally of Vladimir Putin and (b) not inclined to give up on his notions of elections:

The violence, the worst since a government-opposition confrontation erupted last November, came after President Viktor Yanukovych, the main target of the protests, stalled on outlines of an agreement to appoint a new technocratic coalition government or have his powers cut back.

The president issued a statement warning leaders of the opposition to dissociate themselves from radicals, otherwise he would "talk differently" with them. Yanukovych said some members of the anti-government opposition had crossed a line when they called on supporters to bring weapons to the demonstration in Kiev. The president called those people "criminals" and said they would face justice in court.

Or get blowed up real good. The escalation of violence is happening while Putin's attention is on the Olympics, but that's going to be done in a few days. Things could get especially interesting if the protesters can hang on until then.