Russia today sharply hiked the price for natural gas to Ukraine and threatened to reclaim billions previous discounts, raising the heat on its cash-strapped government, while Ukrainian police moved to disarm members of a radical nationalist group after a shooting spree in the capital.
Alexei Miller, the head of Russia's state-controlled Gazprom natural gas giant, said today that the company has withdrawn December's discount that put the price of gas at USD 268.50 per 1,000 cubic meters and set the price at USD 385.50 per 1,000 cubic meters for the second quarter.
The discount was part of a financial lifeline which Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to Ukraine's President, Viktor Yanukovych, after his decision to ditch a pact with the European Union in favour of closer ties with Moscow.
The move fuelled three months of protests which led Yanukovych to flee to Russia in February.
Radical nationalist groups played a key role in Yanukovych's ouster, but they quickly fell out with the new government.
Many activists are still encamped on Kiev's Independence Square, known as the Maidan, and have signalled their intent to remain there until the election of what they deem to be a legitimate government.
Last week, one of the leaders of the most prominent radical group, the Right Sector, was shot dead while resisting police.
Right Sector members then besieged parliament for several hours, breaking windows and demanding the resignation of Interior Minister Arsen Avakov. They lifted the blockade after lawmakers set up a panel to investigate the killing.
Late yesterday, a Right Sector member shot and wounded three people outside a restaurant adjacent to Kiev's main Independence Square, including a deputy city mayor, triggering a standoff that lasted overnight.
Police responded by surrounding the downtown Dnipro Hotel, which Right Sector had commandeered as its headquarters, demanding that the radicals lay down their weapons and leave.
Avakov said that Right Sector members got into buses this morning leaving their weapons behind and headed to a suburban camp under the escort of officers of Ukraine's Security Service.
