Ukraine’s special riot police force known as the Berkut is to be disbanded.<br /><br />The interim government is taking steps to break up the unit which was involved in the bloody crackdown on protesters in Kyiv that left dozens dead last week.<br /><br />The 4,000-strong force, first used against demonstrators in November, has been accused of brutality and murder.<br /><br />“Berkut is gone”, says a post on the internet by Ukraine’s acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov.<br /><br />“I have signed order No.144… on the abolition of Berkut Special Public Security Police Units.”<br /><br />He promised to give more details at a briefing later.<br /><br />The opposition MP was named as interim Interior Minister last weekend after parliament dismissed his predecessor Vitaly Zakharchenko, an ally of ousted President Viktor Yanukovych.<br /><br />For Berkut’s accusers, the footage from last week’s repression of Maidan protesters was the clearest evidence yet of long-suspected atrocities.<br /><br />Linking Yanukovych to the massacre, Ukraine’s parliament called on Tuesday
