Unrest in Ukraine has spread beyond Kiev into areas of eastern Ukraine and the south that traditionally support embattled President Victor Yanukovich.

The country's capital, Kiev has been the site of ongoing protests since Yanukovich abruptly abandoned plans to sign political association and free trade deals with the EU in November, pledging instead to improve ties with former Soviet master Russia.

The two-month stand-off has sparked the worst violence in Ukraine since it won independence in 1991 as the Soviet Union collapsed. At least six people have been killed, according to the prosecutor's office and medics, and the crisis has deepened tension between Russia and the West.

Opposition is strongest in the western regions, where protesters have occupied municipal headquarters in up to 10 areas.

Yesterday saw clashes and protests outside of the traditional strongholds of pro-Western feeling.

In Dnepropetrovs, 390 kilometres southeast of Kiev, about 3,000 protesters tried to storm the regional headquarters, and were blockading the building.

Police made 14 arrests in the city, the birthplace of jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, as protesters clashed with both police and armed supporters of the government, Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported.

In the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, the second largest in Ukraine, Euromaidan protesters were joined by football ultras, local media reported.

Dozens of masked government supporters armed with baseball bats attacked the rally.

Similar clashes occurred in Donetsk in Eastern Ukraine.

In Chernigv, north of Kiev, activists built barricades outside the regional administration building which they stormed on Saturday.

There the protesters are demanding the right to rename a local street after Grushevsky Street in the capital where protesters have regularly battled riot police.