Ukraine on verge of 'civil war': Ex-president Kravchuk

A demonstrator raises his fist as anti-government protesters gather at a road block in Kiev, on Jan 28, 2014. Ukraine is on the brink of "civil war" due to the standoff between the authorities and protesters across the country, its first post-in
A demonstrator raises his fist as anti-government protesters gather at a road block in Kiev, on Jan 28, 2014. Ukraine is on the brink of "civil war" due to the standoff between the authorities and protesters across the country, its first post-independence president Leonid Kravchuk told parliament on Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014. -- PHOTO: AFP

KIEV (AFP) - Ukraine is on the brink of "civil war" due to the standoff between the authorities and protesters across the country, its first post-independence president Leonid Kravchuk told parliament on Wednesday.

"All the world acknowledges and Ukraine acknowledges that the state is on the verge of civil war," Kravchuk, Ukraine's president from 1991-1994, told parliament in an emotional address. "It is a revolution. It is a dramatic situation in which we much act with the greatest responsibility," he told deputies, who gave him a standing ovation.

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