Update 10:55

It is being reported that the police started removing barricades and dragging protesters out of the camp early this morning. However, police have now pulled back from Kiev's Independent Square after the overnight clashes.

Demonstrators, who have been gathered in in the city since last month, are protesting a new government deal with Russia. This morning, the opposition leader has urged protesters to remain, predicting the President will fall.

Hundreds of officers had originally surrounded the camp in Independence Square and attempted to dismantle barricades.

It was reported that police had reoccupied part of the square - known as the Maidan in Kiev - after they were witnessed tearing down tents.

Protesters shouted "Shame!", ''We will stand!" and sang the Ukrainian national anthem. Ukrainian singer Ruslana, who is with the protesters, was heard appealing to police through a loud hailer: "Don't hurt us."

Ukrainian opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk called for a millions-strong protest, predicting the regime of President Viktor Yanukovych would fall.

"We will not forgive this," he said. "Here there will be millions and his regime is going to collapse."

US Secretary of State John Kerry voiced the country's "disgust" at Ukraine's repression of demonstrators.

"(Washington) expresses its disgust with the decision of Ukrainian authorities to meet the peaceful protest in Kiev's Maidan Square with riot police, bulldozers, and batons, rather than with respect for democratic rights and human dignity," Kerry said. "This response is neither acceptable nor does it befit a democracy."

The storming of the camp comes despite a visit by two top Western diplomats, including European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, to try to defuse a weeks-long stand-off between the opposition and Mr Yanukovych.

Protesters have been demonstrating against the government's decision to pull out of negotiations on a trade pact with the European Union and rebuild economic ties with Russia.

Mr Yanukovych had previously attempted to calm the situation by calling for the release of the demonstrators arrested in the protests and vowing that Ukraine is still interested in integrating with Europe.

His efforts, however, stopped far short of opposition demands that his government resign, and the two sides appeared no closer to a resolution that would chart out a secure future for their economically troubled nation.

Sky Correspondent Katie Stallard, in Kiev, earlier reported that riot police had been in formation for four or five hours:

Image: Wikimedia Commons