(via Flickr)

Following large protests on Sunday, more people took to the streets of Kiev, calling for the removal of the president for his decision to abandon a European Union integration pact.

The protesters made barricades around Independence Square, the place of the 2004 Orange Revolution.

The main City Hall building was taken over by protesters without police resistance on Sunday evening, "Revolution HQ" was written in black pain on its stone facade.

The protests ignited after President Viktor Yanukovych walked away from an integration pact with the EU that was supposed to be signed at a summit in Vilnius, Lithuania last Friday. The president's move signaled the establishment closer relations with Russia and a step away from joining the EU. 

On Saturday, the president condemned violence against protesters and promised that Ukraine would not give up on EU integration, in a post on his website. He has not commented publicly on the situation.

The protests mark the biggest public rally in the ex-Soviet state since the Orange Revolution against electoral fraud nine years ago.

The presidents decision to abandon a trade pact with the EU and instead seek closer ties with Russia has angered many in Ukraine where people are eager to join the European Union and escape Moscow's sphere of influence.

Yanukovich defended his decision to ignore the free trade deal with Europe, stating that it did not do enough to protect Ukrainian producers and that a Ukrainian delegation would go to Russia this week for negotiations on economic relations.

Even some of the president's supporters were shocked by the abruptness with which his government announced it was suspending work on a long-awaited pact with the EU.

Scenes over the last couple of days of police beating protesters have hardened opinion against him.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has blamed the protests on outside forces attempting to unsettle Ukraine's legitimate rulers.

"This reminds me more of a pogrom than a revolution," Putin told reporters on a visit to Armenia.

Following the rallies in Ukraine, the capital of Armenia has also burst with protests against Putin's visit to the country and its government's plans to join a Moscow-led customs union.

Some of the protesters in Armenia held banners that said "Putin, go home!" or "No to the USSR!", a reference to Putin's efforts to bind former Soviet republics together more closely in economic and security alliances.

Putin is accused of putting pressure on Ukraine, Armenia and other former Soviet republics to halt agreements that aim towards EU integration.

Read more at The Telegraph.

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