Thousands of police are moving on an anti-government protesters' camp in the centre of Ukrainian capital Kiev.
Officers have surrounded the camp in Independence Square and appear to be attempting to dismantle barricades.
It is being reported that police have reoccupied part of the square - known as the Maidan in Kiev - after they were witnessed tearing down tents.
Activists linked hands and sang the national anthem as police gathered Protesters shouted "Shame!", ''We will stand!" and sung 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."
Sky Correspondent Katie Stallard, in Kiev, said she had seen no obvious signs of violence.
"The protesters on their side are coming to their defensive positions and looking out," she said.
"The police, for their part, are formed up and seem to be waiting for the order to go in.
"We saw protesters earlier today reinforcing their positions with whatever they could find, with oil drums, with timber. They've strung barbed wire along some of the sections of the barricades."
Ukrainian opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk called for a millions-strong protest, predicting the regime of President Viktor Yanukovych would fall.
Police appeared to receive hundreds of reinforcements "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," he 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 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.
European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton had earlier visited the camp after first meeting Mr Yanukovych and then opposition leaders.
She issued a statement in response to the police's actions, saying: "I observe with sadness that police use force to remove peaceful people from the centre of Kiev. The authorities didn't need to act under the coverage of night to engage with the society by using police.
"Dialogue with political forces and society and use of arguments is always better than the argument of force."
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.
:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202
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