Thousands of opposition supporters have taken part in the second demonstration in a week in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, demanding the resignation of President Leonid Kuchma.

As up to 5,000 people gathered in central Kiev to march on the presidential office, at least 50 opposition members of parliament launched a hunger strike inside a presidential building.

President Kuchma faces a raft of accusations

The opposition - comprising the left-wing Communist and Socialist parties and two centre-right groups - accuses Mr Kuchma of worsening living standards and corruption.

They also say he was involved in the killing two years ago of a journalist, Georgiy Gongadze.

The protests come after the invasion of state TV studios on Monday night by a group of opposition leaders and their supporters. The action forced the cancellation of the main evening news.

A BBC regional analyst says that, with Mr Kuchma making clear he will not leave office until he has served the remaining two years of his term, a sense of acute crisis pervades Ukraine.

'Learning democracy'

The president has refused to meet the hunger-strikers, describing their actions as "blackmail".

Tymoshenko wants the president impeached

"I cannot see a single constructive proposal from their side," he said. "We are learning democracy, but these things must be done legally."

But Communist Party leader Petro Simonenko, who is one of the hunger-strikers, said they would stay in the building until they could see Mr Kuchma.

He said the deputies were blocked between the second and third floors of the building.

Impeachment call

Speaking at Tuesday's demonstration outside parliament, centre-right opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko called for Mr Kuchma to be impeached.

Georgiy Gongadze provides a focus for opposition anger

The several thousand protesters chanted "Ukraine without Kuchma" and carried banners calling for the country's political "oligarchs" to be imprisoned.

Last week's demonstration marked the second anniversary of the disappearance of Mr Gongadze, whose headless body was later found in woods north of Kiev.

The opposition accuses Mr Kuchma of corruption and complicity in Mr Gongadze's killing.

He denies the allegations.

Protests

After the invasion of the TV station, Ukrainian National TV said it would give air time on Tuesday to three deputies who forced their way into the studio.

Police were heavily guarding the station's headquarters to prevent opposition supporters getting in again.

Last week's demonstration was joined by about 55,000 people across the country, making it the largest in the country's post-Soviet history.

On the day of the protest, 17 September, state and private television channels were pulled off the air until mid-afternoon for what officials said was routine maintenance.

The timing was widely interpreted as a ruse to prevent tv coverage of the demonstration.

Mr Kuchma was re-elected in November 1999 to a second five-year term and has since seen his poll ratings plunge.

One poll last week suggested that 70% of the population would like him to step down.