Ukraine Activists Start Deadly Odessa Fire

At least 31 people have died after a building in the Ukrainian city of Odessa was set on fire during clashes between protesters.

Police said some people inside the trade union building were overcome by smoke and others were killed jumping from windows as they tried to escape.

Pro-Russian and pro-Kiev activists fought running battles as the southern port city saw some of its worst violence since President Victor Yanukovych was ousted in February.

The fire started as the Kiev government launched a major offensive against pro-Russian activists who have seized government buildings in the east of the country.

A pro-Russian activist fires a gun during clashes with rivals

Russia said it was "outraged" by the day's events in Odessa and denounced the "criminal irresponsibility" of the pro-Western authorities in Kiev.

Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement that it called on Ukraine and its "Western backers to end the anarchy and take responsibility for the Ukranian people".

It added that Moscow viewed the "tragic events" as a sign of Kiev's "criminal irresponsibility".

At an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council, the UK accused Moscow of "breathtaking" hypocrisy over the latest clashes.

A protester throws a petrol bomb at the trade union building in Odessa

The UK's ambassador to the UN Sir Mark Lyall Grant said Russia had "funded, equipped and directed" some of those involved in the insurgency.

"Many" pro-Russian separatists were said to have been killed as the Ukrainian army took control of checkpoints around Slavyansk.

Two Ukrainian soldiers - from the airborne brigade - were also killed as two military helicopters were shot down, acting president Oleksandr Turchynov said.

People wait for rescue on an upper-storey ledge during the fire

Russia said Kiev's offensive against the insurgents had "destroyed" the two-week-old Geneva agreement on cooling Ukraine's crisis.

The Ukrainian Security Service said one of the helicopters was shot down with a surface-to-air missile, adding that the sophisticated weapon undermined Russia's claims that Slavyansk was simply under the control of armed locals.

Russia has tens of thousands of troops in areas near Ukraine's border, and Kiev claims it neighbouring country is preparing to invade and that it is stoking the unrest in the east.

Moscow denies the allegations, but has warned Russia would respond to attacks on Russian citizens or interests in the east, where insurgents have seized government buildings in around a dozen cities in towns.

Unlike eastern Ukraine, Odessa had remained largely untroubled since Mr Yanukovych was toppled.

But clashes erupted late on Friday between pro-Russians and government supporters in the key port on the Black Sea coast, 330 miles from the turmoil in the east.

Police said the deadly fire broke out in a trade union building Friday, but did not give details on how it started. Earlier, police said at least three people had died in a clash between the two sides.

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