Smoke and fires continue to burn in the Ukraine capital Kiev at daybreak Wednesday after a night of heavy clashes between police and demonstrators.

The Ukraine Health Ministry said in a statement 25 people have been killed in clashes so far.

Ukrainian riot police charged protesters occupying a central Kiev square in the former Soviet republic which is caught in a geopolitical struggle between Russia and the West.

Alarmed Western governments demanded restraint and dialogue, urging President Yanukovich to pull back government forces and exercise maximum restraint.