KIEV, December 11 (RAPSI) – Elite riot police squad “Berkut” and Interior Ministry forces are storming the Kiev city hall building, which was earlier occupied by the pro-Eurozone opposition protesters, RIA Novosti reports from the scene.

Three buses drove up to the building, disembarking the armor-clad policemen who then immediately  rushed the building.

The buses blocked the building’s entrance, and are now being surrounded by the protesters.

Street protests have been ongoing in Ukraine since President Viktor Yanukovych made an 11th-hour decision last month not to sign a long-awaited association agreement with the EU, opting instead for closer cooperation with Russia.

The protests intensified after the Berkut unit’s harsh suppression of protesters in Independence Square on November 30, when dozens of students and a number of reporters were beaten up.

Up to 800,000 people rallied in Kiev in the days after the first Berkut crackdown.

Opposition leaders have demanded the dissolution of the government and snap legislative and presidential elections.

Yanukovych’s government rejected those demands, but said earlier this week it was ready for talks with its opponents.