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Situation in central Kiev stabilized — media

Earlier in the day, radicals of the Ukrainian extremist organization Right Sector clashed with national guards and set garbage bins on fire in the Maidan, or the central Independence Square

KIEV, February 20. /TASS/. The situation in central Kiev has stabilized, with clashes being stopped, News One television channel said on Saturday evening.

"As of now, the police are in control of the situation in the center of the city," a News One correspondent said.

Earlier in the day, radicals of the Ukrainian extremist organization Right Sector clashed with national guards and set garbage bins on fire in the Maidan, or the central Independence Square.

Activists of a Revolutionary Right Sector, or Radical Right Forces, put two tents near the Independence stele, saying they will spend the night there. They demand "legitimate removal from power" of the president and the government of Ukraine.

Central Kiev on Saturday was a venue of rallies dedicated to the second anniversary of the so-called "revolution of dignity" in the Maidan. In the first half of the day, several dozens of activists showered stones and firecrackers on oligarch Rinat Akhmetov. After that, the crowd attacked banks owned by Russian nations, including Alfa Bank and Sberbank.

Later, the activists blocked traffic along Kiev’s central street, Kreshchatik, calling on Ukrainians to put tents in central Kiev to stage an open-ended strike. By the evening, men in fatigues who called themselves Radical Right Forces took the Kozatskaya hotel in the Maidan.