From Roman Olearchyk, the Financial Times:  A fight broke out in Ukraine’s parliament on Thursday night between lawmakers from President Viktor Yanukovich’s party and opposition MPs from the party of his rival, Yulia Tymoshenko.

Four opposition MPs were taken to hospital after being injured in the fistfight.

While skirmishes are common in Ukraine’s messy politics, Thursday night’s incident appeared to be particularly violent and marks an escalation in the showdown between the political camps of Mr Yanukovich and Ms Tymoshenko.

The fight came a day after Ukrainian prosecutors announced that they had launched criminal charges against Ms Tymoshenko, a former prime minister and leader of the 2004 Orange Revolution. …

Ms Tymoshenko’s allies claim they were violently attacked. One lawmaker in Ms Tymoshenko’s camp was reported to have suffered a broken hand after pro-Yanukovich MPs beat him with a chair. Another Tymoshenko ally was said to have been bleeding profusely from the head and jaw after being beaten. 

(photo: EPA, video: Telegraph)

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