People are being killed on the streets ... horror happening ...
Well... then don't shoot at the policemen. You attack the police and what do you expect in return? garlands?
The situation is FAR, FAR more complex than you think. I've been following it for about a month now. For starters, the protesters have been peacefully protesting for about 2 months prior to the escalation of violence that happened around January. The first major news of violence and property damage have been the result of the government-planted thugs known as Titushki, who are paid USD by the govt to pretend to be part of the protests to stir shit up to discredit the activists.
Second, the protesters did not turn violent (and by violent I mean throwing rocks and molotovs, not shooting guns) until the cops began to shoot them with rubber bullets and beat them with clubs (this started happening about a month ago when this whole story got major traction). At about the same time, stories began to emerge about cops and riot police capturing key activist leaders, torturing them and killing them. Their bodies were later found in the woods with signs of torture.
Third, the protesters have not used any firearms until the police began killing dozens of people yesterday. And even then, only a few protesters are currently known to have weapons, only because they are being forced to by the fact that the government forces have begun indiscriminately killing protesters with live ammunition yesterday.
TLDR: the government decided to crack down violently on these originally-peaceful protests. The protesters are just now responding in kind. The government wanted to kill people, now they have a civil war on their hands and they're responsible.
edit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DxkDiAcSF8 here's what the police are doing. The protesters in the video are unarmed, all they have is riot shields for protection and they're being shot at. You can also notice at least one person (kid in blue helmet at about 1:49) being shot and killed.
