Police sniper shoots protesters in Kiev

Kiev - A Ukraine police sniper has been seen shooting protesters near Independence Square in Kiev, as the death toll increases with violent clashes.

SkyNEWS reports that a police sniper shot live rounds at protesters as police was forced on the back foot by intensifying protests.

An Associated Press reporter has seen the bodies of several protesters at the edge of the protest encampment in downtown Kiev.

A medic for the protesters, Bohdan Soloviy, says eight protesters were killed by gunfire on Thursday as demonstrators tried to take control of a building near the encampment.

Thursday's violence came hours after the country's embattled president and top opposition leaders met and called for a truce and negotiations.

In another account a Reuters photographer saw fifteen bodies were lying on the ground covered by blankets on or near Kiev's Independence Square.

Photographer Vasily Fedosenko said he saw six bodies at the northwestern side of the square and then a few moments later saw a further four bodies about 100m away at the other side of the plaza.

They were all civilians, he said.

A short while later, he saw another five bodies in front of the hotel Ukraina, which stands on a hill and looks down on Independence Square