Before he was ousted as Ukraine's president, Viktor Yanukovych drew up plans to use thousands of troops to crush the protests that eventually toppled him, according to a leaked document published online.

Ukrainian journalists are going through thousands of papers they say were found near Yanukovych's opulent residence near Kiev after he fled the capital, and some documents have already started to surface in the internet.

Although its authenticity could not be confirmed, parliamentary deputy Hennadi Moskal, a former deputy interior minister, published a document online detailing a plan to surround Independence Square - the cradle of the uprising - with snipers and open fire on the protesters below.