Police clash with protesters in Ukraine - in pictures

A protester throws a Molotov cocktail at riot police in Kiev. Violent clashes erupted in the city this week as Ukrainian police stormed protesters’ barricades in the city. At least three people are believed to have been shot dead and hundreds have been injured.

Riot police gather in the centre of Kiev. Protests have been staged in the city since late November after the government rejected a planned treaty with the European Union in favour of Moscow. The latest spate of demonstrations was triggered when new laws restricting public protests were introduced.

A demonstrator throws a stone during clashes between protestors and police.

Police arrest protesters in Kiev. Ukrainian opposition leaders have issued an ultimatum to President Viktor Yanukovych, after talks failed to resolve the political stalemate.

Protesters clash with riot police in Kiev.

Vitali Klitschko, one of the key leaders of the opposition, has said he is willing to face "a bullet in the forehead" if Yanukovych did not launch snap elections. Speaking at a mass rally on Wednesday evening, he said the president could end the stand-off "without bloodshed" by calling early elections, but that "tomorrow, if the president does not respond... then we will go on the attack".

A grenade explodes during clashes between police and protesters. Hundreds of people have been injured this week, though peaceful protesters had blamed a little-known far-right group, Right Sector, for carrying out the violence.

A protester smokes a cigarette next to a barricade blocking access to the Kiev parliament building.

A bare-chested man waves a Ukrainian flag during clashes between protesters and police.

Ukrainian opposition activists build barricades using a burned bus.

Protesters clash with riot police during an opposition rally on Sunday in the centre of Kiev in a show of defiance against the strict new curbs on protests. Ukrainian police used tear gas, stun grenades and water cannon in a bid to disperse the hundreds of people who sought to storm police cordons near the parliament building in the capital.

Protesters try to push a bus into riot police during clashes earlier in the week.