UKRAINE: Dozens of empty green tents sitting abandoned in the snow of a Kiev park yesterday marked the defeat of the government's first serious attempt to beat Ukraine's pro-democracy demonstrators, writes Chris Stephen, in Kiev
The tents, army-issue, were provided for the government's most feared weapon, the "Donetski" - miners from the eastern city, Donetsk, brought to Kiev to fight pro-democracy protesters.
The opposition say the Donetski are the shock troops of prime minister Mr Victor Yanukovich who made his bones as governor of this poor eastern province that has provided his most loyal voters.
Mr Yanukovich has kept open loss-making coal mines, and in return secured the loyalty of miners who would otherwise be without a job.
In return, the opposition fear the Donetski are prepared to come to the capital and fight the protesters. The opposition also say the government has paid thousands of unemployed thugs to come to Kiev to cause trouble.
Not everyone is happy with the disdain shown to these miners. Telecoms engineer Anton (29) moved to Kiev four years ago from Donetsk and feels sad that his compatriots are now the object of fear and abuse.
"In Donetsk they have a very different mentality," he said. "In that town you have no independent information, only government propaganda. My friends back there see state television every day telling them Yushchenko is a bandit, so what else can they think?"
"It's a shame," said Alex, a TV technician marching with the protesters. "Doneski used to mean just a guy from Donetsk. Now it is a term of abuse."
By night the park echoed to the sound of the Donetski mallets hammering in tent pegs to cries of "Yanukovich". Democracy protesters in Independence Square braced themselves for violence.
But with yesterday's dawn, tens of thousands of opposition supporters, in their familiar orange ribbons and scarves, converged on the city centre and the Donetski lost their nerve.
"They just vanished, " said Alex, a construction worker from Lviv.
By mid-morning all that was left of the feared Donetski were their abandoned tents. Inside one were signs of a hurried meal: chunks of bread and cheese, a fish head and an empty vodka bottle lay on a groundsheet. But no sign of the men who consumed them.
The ground was strewn with blue banners and scarves printed with "For Yanukovich!" in big red letters which were snapped up by passing teenagers. "These are souvenirs, souvenirs of our victory," said Andrei.
But celebrations may be premature. The government last night signalled, through confirmation of the disputed election results, that there would be no backing down.
Opposition leaders fear the Donetski will be used as a battering ram to bring violence to the so-far peaceful opposition protests, providing an excuse for police to take control of Kiev under the pretext of restoring order.
The government's security options are narrowing, with many Kiev police openly siding with demonstrators and the defence ministry saying yesterday that its troops would remain in barracks.
This leaves the government still in control of a plethora of special force and thousands of regular police from eastern provinces have arrived in barracks on the edge of the city.
And then there are the Donetski.
Last night independent TV station Channel Five found the Donetski once more, filming 30 bus-loads parked on a road on the city outskirts guarded by special police units. Whether they are on their way into the city, or on their way home, is not clear. But protesters in Independence Square are braced for many more anxious nights.