Hundreds of officers clashed with protesters as they used chainsaws and brute force to tear down barricades blocking access to the city's Independence Square, or Maidan, which has been the focal point of the protests.
The demonstrators are angered by the refusal of Ukraine's Russian-allied president, Viktor Yanukovych, to sign an agreement that would strengthen cooperation with the European Union.
The Interior Ministry said 10 policemen were injured between 1 and 4 a.m. while acting on a court order to dislodge protesters from the city center and allow free movement of traffic.
Photos: Ukraine protests Photos: Ukraine protests
Clashes in the streets of Kiev
Thousands of demonstrators have set up camp in the snow-covered square, determined to maintain their peaceful protest despite the icy temperatures.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry condemned the authorities' response to the protest in a strongly worded statement.
"The United States expresses its disgust with the decision of Ukrainian authorities to meet the peaceful protest in Kyiv's Maidan Square with riot police, bulldozers, and batons, rather than with respect for democratic rights and human dignity," he said.
"This response is neither acceptable nor does it befit a democracy."
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden had urged Yanukovych in a phone call Monday to respect democratic principles, including freedom of assembly, and listen to the voices of the Ukrainian people, Kerry said. "Instead, Ukraine's leaders appear tonight to have made a very different choice."
Kerry urged the "utmost restraint" by the authorities, saying "human life must be protected."
A picture posted to Twitter by the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Geoff Pyatt, showed Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland handing out food Wednesday to security forces and protesters in the square.
The police crackdown came only hours after EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton held lengthy talks with Yanukovych and visited the protest site in the central square.
Her spokeswoman, Maja Kocijancic, tweeted a statement from Ashton, who is still in Kiev, voicing her concern that the police had moved in under cover of darkness to take on the protesters with force.
"I was among you on Maidan in the evening and was impressed by the determination of Ukrainians demonstrating for the European perspective of their country," she said. "Some hours later I observe with sadness that police uses force (to) remove peaceful people from Kiev center."
Ashton also met with opposition leaders Tuesday.
The scenes of protest have become reminiscent of the uprising that swept Yanukovych out of office nine years ago during the Orange Revolution, when he was prime minister.
East vs. West
Yanukovych's refusal to sign the EU deal represents a U-turn in the country's advance toward closer relations with the West.
An EU agreement would have opened borders to trade and set the stage for modernization and inclusion, protesters say. They accuse Yanukovych of preparing to take the country into a Moscow-led customs union.
Moscow has leverage that may have affected Yanukovych's decision to backpedal on the EU talks. Russia supplies Ukraine with natural gas, which is essential to keep people from freezing in the country's brutal winters.
Moscow can increase Ukraine's energy bills and impose other trade sanctions.
Yanukovych referred to that threat Tuesday at a televised roundtable, saying he was "strongly against opposing relations with Europe in favor of relations with Russia and vice versa.
"We need to find a way to reunite. I think Europe will sleep peacefully in warmth if Ukraine has good relations with Russia, if there are no such conflicts like when we were shut off from gas."
The EU is also pressuring Yanukovych to free his chief political opponent, Yulia Tymoshenko, who has languished in jail for two years after being convicted of abuse of power in 2011. The verdict was decried by the EU and other critics as a sham.
The Orange Revolution that swept Yanukovych from office in 2004 also brought the pro-Western Tymoshenko to power.
Many of the protesters have carried her picture in Independence Square during the rallies.
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