Ukraine ushers in new era as president flees

A general view of Kiev's Independence Square in Ukraine. (AFP PHOTO/ DANIEL SLIM)

KIEV: A new era dawned in Ukraine on Sunday when parliament appointed a pro-Western interim leader after impeaching a defiant president Viktor Yanukovych, whose whereabouts remain a mystery following a week of carnage.

The ex-Soviet state's bloody three-month crisis culminated in a dizzying flurry of historic changes over the weekend that saw parliament oust the pro-Russian Yanukovych and call a presidential election for May 25.

Lawmakers then went a step further by approving the release from her seven-year jail sentence of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko -- a star of the 2004 Orange Revolution who was thrown behind bars less than a year after Yanukovych came to power in 2010.

The constitutional legitimacy of parliament's actions remains an open question and Yanukovych vowed in a taped interview to fight the "bandits" who now claimed to rule Ukraine.

But Yanukovych's grasp on power was in limited evidence in Kiev on Sunday as the city's police presence vanished and protesters took control of everything from traffic management to protection of government buildings after a week of bloodshed that claimed nearly 100 lives.

Lawmakers voted on Sunday to name close Tymoshenko ally Oleksandr Turchynov -- himself only appointed as parliament speaker on Saturday in place of a veteran Yanukovych supporter -- as interim president with the task of forming a new government by Tuesday.

Turchynov immediately vowed to draw up a "government of the people" and urged leading lawmakers to create a new parliamentary majority that could swiftly approve reforms that had stalled under Yanukovych.

"We have until Tuesday," the 49-year-old interim leader said.

New interior minister Arsen Aviakov announced the launch of a probe into police involvement in the "execution" of protesters in a week of carnage that turned the heart of Kiev into a war zone.

Yanukovych was dealt another embarrassing blow when his own Regions Party issued a statement condemning him for issuing "criminal orders" that led to so many deaths.

"We condemn Yanukovych's cowardice and decision to flee," the Regions Party said in a statement. "We condemn treason."

Parliament also voted to dimiss Ukraine's Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara after sacking the federal police chief and prosecutor general on Saturday

And it took the symbolic step of handing over Yanukovych's marble-lined mansion outside Kiev -- its vast car collection and golden toilet fixtures opened up for public viewing on Saturday -- to the state.

Tymoshenko said Sunday that she would not seek the post of prime minister in a new coalition government.

"Information that I was being considered for the post of prime minister of Ukraine came as a surprise," the former premier said in a statement released by her Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party.

"This issue was not agreed or discussed with me. Thank you for your respect, but I ask you not to consider my candidacy for the post of the head of the government."