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Tens of thousands of Ukrainian pro-EU demonstrators have gathered in the capital Kiev in defiance of new laws aimed at curbing public protests.

They braved freezing temperatures to pack into the city's Independence Square, with some sporting pots or colanders to mock a ban on helmets.

The laws were passed on Thursday with a quick show of hands by MPs loyal to President Viktor Yanukovych.

The opposition accused Mr Yanukovych's ruling party of a coup.

The president signed the bills into law soon afterwards.

One of the laws bans any unauthorised installation of tents, stages or amplifiers in public places. It also permits the arrest of protesters who wear masks or helmets, among other restrictions.

Those who violate the law now face a hefty fine or prison.

Another bill provides a punishment of one year of corrective labour for slandering government officials.

US and EU officials have expressed deep concern at the new legislation.

Action plan demand

Sunday's rally began peacefully after scuffles the previous day between pro-EU protesters and Yanukovych supporters in the city.

Opposition leaders are also under huge pressure to come up with an action plan, amid criticism from many activists that their campaign has been too passive.

The protesters have been camping out behind extensive barricades on the Euromaidan, as Independence Square has been dubbed, for nearly two months.

The mass demonstrations were initially triggered by President Yanukovych's last-minute rejection of an EU deal under heavy pressure from Russia in November.

The protesters' demands later widened to include the fight against what they said was widespread government corruption and abuse of power.

'Illegitimate' laws

Among the laws is a ban on protests involving more than five vehicles in "Automaidan" motorcades. This followed such demonstrations outside government offices - including Mr Yanukovych's countryside residence - in recent days.

Party of the Regions MP Oleh Tsariov said the laws were in line with European standards and aimed at preventing further escalation of the political crisis.

But the opposition said the bills were "illegitimate", saying the pro-presidential MPs had decided to use voting by a show of hands after realising they did not have enough support.

Udar party leader Vitali Klitschko condemned the move as a "coup", while Arseniy Yatsenyuk, one of the leaders of the Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party, warned that Ukraine was now bracing for another "wave of protests".

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele said he was "profoundly concerned by new legislation limiting freedoms".

The move contradicted Ukraine's "European aspirations", he said, and its commitments in the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, which President Yanukovych abruptly refused to sign in November.

Instead, the Ukrainian leader promised to rebuild economic ties with Moscow. Shortly afterwards Russia cut the price of its gas supplies to Ukraine by almost a third and bought $15bn (£9.2bn; 10.9bn euros) in Ukrainian government bonds.

After defeat in the 2004 Orange Revolution, Mr Yanukovych was democratically elected president in 2010. Analysts expect him to stand for office again at the next election, just over a year away.

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One of the laws bans any unauthorised installation of tents, stages or amplifiers in public places. It also permits the arrest of protesters who wear masks or helmets, among other restrictions.

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Jeez Signy - get with the program. When THEY do it THERE it's EVIL TYRANNY!
When WE do it HERE it's FREEDOM!

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Here go, SignyM. Beefcake of your hero.

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Originally posted by Niki2:
Ay-yup. You'd never hear a rightie complaining about such things over here if the protesters weren't Tea Partiers...they'd be "that filthy rabble", etc., etc.

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Hmmm... sounds like our reaction to Occupy protests. Where are the "free speech zones?"

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The violence is in fact restricted to one small zone in central Kiev, close to the main protest encampment at Maidan (or Independence Square), with most of the rest of the city functioning normally, say correspondents.


Peaceful protesters have blamed a little-known far-right group, Right Sector, for carrying out the violence.

Key opposition figures Arseniy Yatsenyuk and former boxing champion Vitali Klitschko have condemned the violence but seem unable to stop it, correspondents add.

Mr Klitschko has also accused the government of paying thugs nicknamed "titushki" to delegitimise the protests through violence and create a pretext for the imposition of a state of emergency.

Mr Klitschko's spokeswoman wrote on Facebook that he, personally, caught, disarmed and interrogated two "titushki" during the night.

BBC Russian spoke to several suspected "titushki" detained by the opposition activists.

One, an 11th-year student called Nikolai Ignatenko, said: "We weren't told anything about what to do. We stood by the metro and waited. They gave us hammers - that's all".

Artyom Nemchenko, a college student, said: "I wanted to earn some money, I found an offer on the internet. They were offering 220 hryvnia (£16; $26)."

He said some of the provocateurs "were instructed to stir up trouble: erect barricades, launch attacks".

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