Political standoff

February 6, 2014 - Caught in a tug of war between Russia and the West, Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovich is seeking a way out of mass unrest following his decision in November to spurn a trade deal with the EU and accept financial aid from Moscow. At least six people have been killed in the past two weeks in unprecedented politically-linked violence in Kiev, whose centre is now a heavily-barricaded fortified protest zone.

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The Kremlin's point man on Ukraine, Sergei Glazyev, has accused Washington of arming, funding and training "putschists" to take over the former-Soviet republic, warning that Russia might "actively intervene".

Moscow strategists are reported to be considering several scenarios to replace Yanukovych once the Winter Olympics are over.

One plan resembles Moscow’s 2008 intervention in Georgia, when Abkhazia and South Ossetia were put under Russian protection as “breakaway republics.”