Ukraine Reels from Clashes as Third Policeman Dies

Ukraine was in shock Tuesday after fierce clashes outside parliament killed three policemen and wounded 140 people as tensions flared over controversial legislation giving more autonomy to pro-Russian rebels.

It was the worst unrest in Kiev since a bloody uprising ousted a Moscow-backed president in early 2014, unleashing a separatist insurgency in the industrial east that has killed thousands of people.

The proposed reforms, which were given initial backing by MPs in a stormy session that set off Monday's violence, are a key part of a faltering Western-backed peace deal signed in February.

The government -- struggling to prevent the the former Soviet state from splitting in two -- blamed ultra-nationalists for the unrest, saying activists had thrown a live grenade near the parliament where police were out in force.

"At a time when Russia and its bandits are seeking to destroy the country but are unable to do this on the front line, the so-called pro-Ukrainian political forces are trying to open a second front inside the country," said Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

President Petro Poroshenko described the violence as a "stab in the back" and said the culprits would face "severe punishment".

Hundreds of people had massed in Kiev Monday to protest at a bill branded "un-Ukrainian" by critics and which observers say may ultimately struggle to win final parliamentary approval.

The chaotic scenes with swirling black smoke, and riot police confronting baseball bat-wielding protesters carried echoes of the worst clashes of the Maidan uprising that ousted president Viktor Yanukovych in February and saw him flee to Russia.

Kiev's Western allies see the reforms as a chance to end the armed conflict in the east that has claimed more than 6,800 lives over the past 16 months.

Kiev and the West accuse Russia of backing the rebels with weapons and troops, a claim the Kremlin denies.

The February truce deal calls for Kiev to implement "decentralization" by the end of this year -- something deeply opposed by Ukrainian nationalists who see it as an attempt to legalize the rebel seizure of the eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions.

Ukrainian authorities pointed the finger of blame for Monday's unrest at activists from the ultra-nationalist Svoboda (Freedom) party.

Kiev police said a number of politicians suspected of organizing the clashes, including firebrand Svoboda leader Oleg Tiagnybok, would be questioned.

But the party rejected the accusations, and charged that the authorities were the first to use force against demonstrators.

Kiev police said 18 people, including a member of Svoboda's paramilitary wing accused of firing the grenade, remain in detention.

"We have already found the perpetrators," Poroshenko said after visiting the wounded in hospital.

"The organizers, who were distributing baseball bats, who helped bring weapons, will also be found."

Dozens of grieving Ukrainians including Poroshenko visited the parliament building on Tuesday to light candles and lay flowers in honor of those killed and wounded.

Poroshenko called those who perished in the unrest "true Ukrainian heroes," saying they would be posthumously awarded.

A 24-year-old member of the National Guard suffered a shrapnel wound to the heart from the grenade explosion and died on the operating table Monday.

On Tuesday, two more members of the National Guard succumbed to their injuries, one of them after spending nearly 24 hours in a coma.

"According to our latest data, 141 injured people remain in hospitals all over Kiev," police spokeswoman Oksana Blyshchyk told AFP.

She said 131 of the wounded were policemen and 10 of them were in a serious condition.

Poroshenko aide Olga Bogomolets said the most severely wounded suffered injuries to the stomach, lungs and brain.

The reform bill, which has sparked heated debate in Ukraine, was approved by a total of 265 lawmakers on first reading and the second reading is expected by the end of the year.

It will need a two-thirds majority of 450 lawmakers to pass that stage.

Russia has dismissed the autonomy legislation as merely an "imitation" of compliance with the February peace deal.

"The constitution blown to pieces," screamed the front page headline in pro-Moscow daily newspaper Segodnya (Today).

"Bloody amendments," wrote pro-Kiev daily Ukraina Moloda (Young Ukraine).