Ukraine opposition urges fresh polls amid pro-EU rallies
Opposition parties in Ukraine have called for early elections amid ongoing protests at the government's refusal to sign an EU association agreement.
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They said they were forming a "national resistance headquarters" and preparing a nationwide strike.
In the capital, Kiev, some 1,000 people converged on St Michael's cathedral after being forcefully evicted from Independence Square in the early hours.
Ukraine refused to sign the EU deal after apparent pressure from Russia.
At the end of a summit in the Lithuanian capital on Friday, EU leaders warned they would not tolerate Russian interference in the bloc's relations with former Soviet republics.
The summit reached provisional accords with Georgia and Moldova.
Protest organiser Sergei Milnichenko said tear gas had been used as police moved in at about 04:30 (02:30 GMT) on Saturday to disperse protesters gathered in Independence Square.
A number of people had been hurt.
Police said they had decided to clear Independence Square after "a number of incidents", Interfax Ukraine news agency reported.
It was not clear what incidents they were referring to.
"It was horrible. We were holding a peaceful demonstration and they attacked us," said protester Lada Tromada.
"They threw us away like garbage."
One activist, opposition MP Andriy Shevchenko, tweeted that dozens of people had been hurt and at least 33 taken into police custody.
Members of the political opposition met for emergency talks after the dispersal.
"We have made a joint decision to form a national resistance taskforce and have begun preparing for an all-Ukrainian national strike," former Economy Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told reporters.
"Our demands are the resignation [of Interior Minister Vitali] Zakharchenko, an investigation of his actions and his trial, the resignation of the government and the president and early presidential and parliamentary polls."
Opposition leaders are meeting Western ambassadors, having called for a big rally on Sunday.
The US has already condemned the crackdown.
'Foreign pressure'
Last week, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said he was suspending preparations for signing an EU association agreement that would have opened borders to goods and set the stage for an easing of travel restrictions.
He said pressure from Russia had led him to make his decision. Mr Yanukovych argued that Ukraine could not afford to sacrifice trade with Russia, which opposed the deal.
EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy said the parties had been "really close" to signing the association agreement in Vilnius, but added: "We need to overcome pressure from abroad."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the door would always remain open for Ukraine.
Independence Square was the scene of the Orange Revolution in 2004, which saw Mr Yanukovych ousted and a Western-leaning government brought to power.
Mr Yanukovych was elected president five years later, narrowly defeating then-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, a leading figure of the Orange Revolution.
In 2011 she was sentenced to seven years in jail for abuse of office - a case widely criticised in the West as political revenge.
Ms Tymoshenko has been on hunger strike since Monday over the failure to sign the EU agreement.