TOPIC: Protesters In the Ukraine get Turnt Up...

Ukrainian Protesters Built A Giant Catapult To Fight The Riot Police
Anti-government demonstrations in Ukraine are escalating and it’s not just Molotov cocktails in Kiev tonight.

A group of protesters in central Kiev reportedly constructed an 8-foot-high wooden catapult to hurl rocks at the police on Monday in an effort to combat the authorities’ tear gas with more than just hand-thrown projectiles.

Ukraine's first post-independence president has warned the country is on the "brink of civil war".

Leonid Kravchuk, president from 1991 to 1994, urged parliament to "act with the greatest responsibility" as it began a debate on an amnesty for detained protesters.

President Viktor Yanukovych wants any amnesty to be conditional on protesters leaving official buildings and dismantling barricades.

But protesters want him to resign.

The protests began in November after Mr Yanukovych reversed a decision to sign a long-awaited trade deal with the EU in favour of stronger ties with Russia.

At least five people have been killed and a number of government buildings across the country have been occupied. Hundreds of people remain on the streets of the capital, Kiev.

A policeman was shot dead in Kiev on Wednesday, said officials. It was not immediately clear whether the shooting was related to the protests.

'Compromise'
Mr Kravchuk told MPs that "all the world acknowledges and Ukraine acknowledges that the state is on the brink of civil war".