Ukraine president Viktor Yanukovych denounces 'coup d'etat' after protesters take control in Kiev

Updated

Ukraine president Viktor Yanukovych has made a brief television appearance to deny rumours that he resigned and to denounce what he described as a coup.

Mr Yanukovych's appearance on the state broadcaster ICTV came after anti-government protesters seized his offices in Kiev on Saturday and received assurances from the country's interior ministry and the heads of several key security agencies.

In the interview, which was also reported by Interfax, Mr Yanukovych was quoted as saying: "The events witnessed by our country and the whole world are an example of a coup d'etat".

Ukraine protesters earlier celebrated in the capital amid reports the embattled president had promised to resign in response to violence during anti-government unrest that left nearly 100 dead.

Key points: Protesters seize the Kiev offices of president Viktor Yanukovych.

Mr Yanukovych's residence outside Kiev appears abandoned.

Police pledge allegiance to "the people".

Parliament votes overwhelmingly to release jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko.

Opposition leader Vitali Klitschko calls for elections on May 25.

The parliament has voted to hold early presidential elections on May 25, passing a resolution stating that Mr Yanukovych had failed to properly fulfil his duties as president.

The resolution said that Mr Yanukovych "is removing himself (from power) because he is not fulfilling his obligations, and (that parliament) is setting elections for May 25."

And a member of Ukraine's parliament, Mykola Katerynchuk of the Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) opposition party, said Mr Yanukovych had promised to submit his resignation in a conversation with protest leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

Ukraine's opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, sentenced to a seven-year jail term in 2011 for abuse of power, has been released.

She waved to her supporters as she was driven out of a hospital where she had been placed under guard while being treated for severe back injury.

Hundreds of supporters chanted "Free Yulia" as the fierce rival to embattled President Viktor Yanukovych drove past in dramatic scenes laden with heavy political consequences for Ukraine.

"The dictatorship has fallen," Ms Tymoshenko said in a statement released on her official website.

"It fell thanks to those people who came out to defend themselves, their families and their country."

The motion to free Ms Tymoshenko "based on the decision of the European Court of Human Rights" was backed by 322 deputies of the 331 registered for Saturday's parliamentary session.

Philip Williams reports from Kiev:

"It appears that there is a takeover of sorts in some areas, but particularly in the capital.

"I'm standing outside the presidential palace, the administrative heart of the president's government, and I can tell you there is no presence of any troops.

"It's totally in control of the protesters.

"They have constructed barriers and they're stopping anyone getting close, apart from a few journalists like myself, and they are protecting these buildings.

"They're making sure they are not burnt, they're not ransacked.

"We are told in other parts of the city there is total control by the rebels, certainly in the streets we've been through.

"In the last few hours we've seen not a single policeman, not a single sign of authorities.

"So things in the capital and beyond are moving extremely quickly."

Meanwhile, the interior ministry said on Saturday that the country's police now stand by "the people" and want "rapid changes".

The assurance comes just days after the country's security forces fired on protesters in clashes that killed as many as 77 people.

"The police is at the service of the people and completely shares its aspirations for rapid changes," the ministry said.

"We pay homage to the dead," it added.

Separately, the heads of four Ukrainian security bodies, including police anti-riot and military paratrooper units, appeared in parliament on Saturday and declared they would not take part in any conflict with the people.

And the military general staff said in a statement posted on the website of the defence ministry that the armed forces would not become involved in any political conflict.

"The armed forces of Ukraine are loyal to their constitutional obligations and cannot be pulled into domestic political conflict," it said.

Protesters control 'large areas of central Kiev'

A line of anti-government demonstrators, many in hard-helmets and holding bats, were guarding the entrance to Mr Yanukovych's compound on Saturday.

Security guards were present inside the building but reportedly not trying to expel the protesters.

They are very determined that the buildings here will not be touched, will not be ransacked, that there'll be no revenge attacks if they can avoid it. ABC correspondent Philip Williams

The ABC's Philip Williams reported from outside Mr Yanukovych's office that "all sense of the administration within central Kiev has disappeared".

"I am literally standing a few metres from the front door of the presidential palace," he said.

"I could not have got anywhere near here until this morning, but this area and large areas of central Kiev are firmly in control of the protesters.

"It appears at the moment that Kiev gradually bit by bit is being taken over by the protesters and this is happening, we're told by the protesters, in other cities as well."

Ostap Kryvdyk, who described himself as a protest commander, said some protesters had entered the offices but there was no looting.

"We will guard the building until the next president comes," he told Reuters.

"Yanukovich will never be back."

Williams said the protesters' takeover of the compound was "very orderly".

"It is very impressive the way people have organised themselves here," he said.

"It is really a military-style operation, literally, the communications and the set-ups.

"There are divisions, there are units, there are lines of authority, it's not disorganised at all.

"They are very determined that the buildings here will not be touched, will not be ransacked, that there'll be no revenge attacks if they can avoid it."

Yanukovych 'still in Ukraine'

Mr Yanukovych's residence outside the capital was also reportedly abandoned, and journalists were freely able to enter.

A security source said of Mr Yanukovych: "Everything's okay with him ... He is in Ukraine."

Asked whether the leader was in the capital, the source replied: "I cannot say."

The UNIAN news agency, meanwhile, cited Anna Herman, a lawmaker close to Mr Yanukovych, as saying the president was in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv.

However Ukraine's government, although still led by an ally of Mr Yanukovych, says it will ensure a smooth handover of power to a new administration.

"The cabinet of ministers and ministry of finance are working normally," the government said in a statement released on Saturday.

"The current government will provide a fully responsible transfer of power under the constitution and legislation."

Mr Yanukovych, who enraged much of the population by turning away from the European Union to build closer ties with Russia three months ago, made sweeping concessions in a deal brokered by European diplomats on Friday after days of violence that killed as many as 77 people.

But the deal, which called for early elections by the end of the year, was not enough to satisfy demonstrators who wanted him out immediately after bloodshed that saw his police snipers shooting from rooftops.

Parliament quickly acted to implement the deal, voting to restore a constitution curbing the president's powers and change the legal code allowing for Ms Tymoshenko's release.

It has also elected a close ally of Ms Tymoshenko - senior Fatherland party member Oleksander Turchynov - to the powerful speaker's post, replacing a Yanukovych loyalist who resigned on Saturday, citing ill-health.

Mr Turchynov was elected by 288 votes in the 450-seat parliament.

Events are moving at a rapid 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.

World leaders call on parties to respect peace deal

Saturday's peaceful mood was a marked difference to Thursday, when at least 39 people were killed in clashes in the square.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Saturday urged the Ukrainian government and the opposition to respect their peace deal.

"It is now up to the two sides in the conflict - the government as well as the opposition - to stick to what was agreed and to begin building a relationship of trust," he said in a statement.

British prime minister David Cameron said the deal signed was a real chance to stop the "downward spiral into the nightmare" otherwise facing the country.

US president Barack Obama has discussed the European Union-brokered agreement with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

The State Department says their hour-long phone call was constructive, with both leaders urging all sides to refrain from more violence.

White House spokesman Jay Carney says Washington's focus is now on working with its European partners as well as the government and opposition in Ukraine to ensure the agreement is implemented.

"It is in Russia's interest for the violence to end in Ukraine, as it is in the interest of the United States and our European friends, and of course, most importantly, the Ukrainian people, and we welcome the cessation of violence, and we welcome the agreements that have been reached," he said.

"And the measures that have been passed through the parliament, we're still at an implementation stage, and we monitor this very closely."

ABC/Wires

Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, world-politics, ukraine

First posted