DHAKA: Several hundred thousand Ukrainians occupied a central square in the capital on Sunday, denouncing president Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to turn away from Europe and align this former Soviet republic with Russia.

As widespread protests continued for a third week, Yanukovych’s meeting on Friday with Russian president Vladimir Putin raised more fears that Ukraine is on the verge of entering a Russian-led customs union that critics say could end its economic and political sovereignty and place it back under Moscow’s rule.

Ukrainian authorities have said that police won`t take action against peaceful demonstrators, but concerns persist that some opposition activists may be goaded into violence.

The opposition branded Sunday’s demonstration in Kiev the ‘march of a million’, but the crowd fell short of that goal as some Ukrainians grew tired of the turmoil and others feared violence after riot police brutally beat demonstrators last weekend, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1852 HRS, DEC 08, 2013