Vitali Klitschko Injured in Ukraine Riot

WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko was sprayed in the eyes with tear gas and suffered a gash to his arm during a violent clash with police in Kiev, Ukraine today. According to the Daily Mail, Vitali was among a large crowd protesting the government’s decision to make Russian an official language in the country. Riot police moved in Vitali was caught in the middle with the situation turned violent.

The Ukranian government voted to make Russian, not Ukrainian, the main language in schools and local government

The bill will be welcomed particularly in neighbouring Russia whose leaders have pressed Yanukovich (pictured) to deliver on an election pledge in 2009 to upgrade the status of Russian.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to visit Ukraine on July 12 for a meeting with Yanukovich in Yalta on gas supplies when the language law seems certain to crop up in conversation.

But given the level of protest, it is by no means certain that Yanukovich will sign the bill into law even though it will be popular in his power base in the east of the country.