Ukraine Elections Controversy: Protesters Block Rada Parliament In Kiev, Clashes With Riot Police

UPDATE, 8:18am, EDT

Protesters blocked the Rada parliament building in Kiev, Ukraine, on Monday, disrupting a parliamentary vote on a new constitution. The lawmakers' debate concerned decentralization, which would result in pro-Russian separatist groups in the country gaining power.

Local Ukrainian media reported that at least 80 people were wounded in the fighting outside parliament Monday. Some of the injured were transported in the back of police vans because ambulances had not arrived quickly enough. Several journalists and television crews were also wounded in a blast outside the building.

The Ukrainian National Guard confirmed that at least 20 of its soldiers were injured in the fighting outside the parliament building. At least one police officer has died, Hromadske TV reported.

Rada violence pic.twitter.com/P8nXRKxrvo

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Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has backed the amendments to the constitution. "[The new law] cannot and will not introduce a special status for the Donbas, as some news outlets have reported" Poroshenko said, as reported by Ukrainskaya Pravda, when the amendments were first discussed in July. " Ukraine will remain a unitary state ," he added.

At least 265 votes of the 300 needed to ratify the new constitution and give power to the pro-Russian factions within Ukraine had been achieved as protests raged outside the parliamentary building. Activists threw Molotov cocktails and grenades at riot police as violence began to break out in the capital. The number of votes achieved Monday will push the amendment through to second-round voting Tuesday during which parliament will require the 300 total votes to pass the bill into law.

Police are not certain what kind of weapons protesters have, and journalists on the scene have reported bombs and grenades as well as the use of tear gas on both sides. One Russian correspondent reported that protesters had taken shields away from riot police and were attacking the police.

Protests came amid continuing unrest along the eastern Ukrainian border with Russia, as both nations reported ceasefire violations.