Ukraine has been & will be a place to Flee not a place to visit.
Ukraine protesters seize president's office in Kiev
February 22, 2014 6:55AM ET Updated 9:30AM ET
President Viktor Yanukovich leaves capital as demonstrators occupy compound and opposition demands new election
Topics:
Ukraine Uprising
Ukraine
Europe
Anti-government protesters ride in a truck as they mark a day of mourning for victims of the clashes in Ukraine, in Kiev, Feb. 22, 2014.
Yannis Behrakis/Reuters
Anti-government protesters in Ukraine have seized the office of President Viktor Yanukovich, who left the capital city of Kiev on Saturday but insisted he would not step down, even as his grip on power appeared to be rapidly crumbling.
The Ukrainian military said it would not get involved in trying to stamp out the uprising, as protesters entered Yanukovich's office compound in the capital. The opposition has demanded that a new election be held by May.
The president's residence outside the capital also appeared to have been abandoned. Local media said protesters had entered the sprawling grounds, but it was unclear whether they were inside the main building. Interfax, a Russian news agency, said some security guards were present.
Ukrainian opposition leader Vitaly Klitschko said earlier Saturday that Yanukovich had left Kiev, and that the country must hold early elections.
"Today he left the capital," Klitschko told an emergency session of parliament, which was debating an opposition motion calling on Yanukovich to resign, in the wake of a deal aimed at ending days of carnage in the capital.
"Millions of Ukrainians see only one choice: early presidential and parliamentary elections," Klitschko said.
Thousands of protesters on Kiev's Independence Square are demanding Yanukovich go immediately. They are skeptical of a
European Union-brokered accord under which the embattled leader agreed to give up powers, hold early elections by the end of the year and form a government of national unity.
The UDAR (Punch) opposition party of Klitschko submitted the parliamentary resolution calling on Yanukovich to quit to clear the way for early elections.
But Yanukovich appeared defiant on a local television station broadcast out of Kharkiv, a city in northeastern Ukraine, on Saturday. He said he would not resign and compared the protestors to Nazis.
Yanukovich did not say where he was, but said he would remain away from the capital for the time being.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov sided with Yanukovich on Saturday, calling the opposition "armed extremeists and pogromists." He urged Germany, Poland and France to persuade protestors to adhere to a
peace accord signed by leaders of the opposition and the Ukrainian government earlier this week.
Meanwhile, lawmakers elected a close ally of opposition leader
Yulia Tymoshenko to the powerful post of parliament speaker on Saturday, replacing a loyalist of Yanukovich. Tymoshenko was charged with abuse of power and jailed after signing a natural gas deal Russian oil giant Gazprom in 2011. Her conviction was seen by many as political retribution.
Click here for more on the protests in Ukraine
The crisis in Ukraine began with
protests in November after Yanukovich turned his back on a far-reaching economic deal with the EU, in favor of closer ties with Russia instead.
Events have been moving at an accelerating pace that could see a decisive shift in the future of a country of 46 million people away from Moscow's orbit and closer to the West, although Ukraine is near bankruptcy and depends on Russian aid to pay its debt.
Addressing the crowd on Independence Square earlier, Klitschko said he would seek support from lawmakers "to get rid of" Yanukovich.
Protesters cheered and chanted "Bandits out!"
The EU-brokered deal followed two days of violence that turned central Kiev into a battle zone and left at least 77 people dead.
"I believe parliament today will be dissolved and Yanukovich will be ousted," said 58-year-old protester Vasyl Lubarets.
As the parliament sitting opened, the pro-Yanokovich speaker of the assembly, Volodymyr Rybak, said he was standing down due to ill-health.
Meanwhile on Saturday, leaders of mainly Russian-speaking regions of eastern Ukraine that are loyal to Yanukovich challenged the legitimacy of the national parliament, and said they were taking sole control of their territories.
Mikhaylo Dobkin, Governor of Kharkov region in northeast Ukraine, told regional leaders meeting in the city of Kharkov: "We're not preparing to break up the country. We want to preserve it."
But a resolution adopted at the meeting said that "the decisions taken by the Ukrainian parliament in such circumstances cause doubts about their ... legitimacy and legality."
Al Jazeera and wire services
Yeah, someone sure did flee !
