(23 Feb 2014) The newly emboldened Ukrainian parliament, in a special session Sunday, voted overwhelmingly to temporarily hand the president's powers to speaker Oleksandr Turchinov.
The legislators also voted to remove a string of government ministers and may name a prime minister later on Sunday.
However the legitimacy of the parliament's flurry of decisions in recent days is under question.
The votes are based on a decision on Friday to return to a 10-year-old constitution that grants parliament greater powers.
President Yanukovych has not signed that decision into law, and he said on Saturday that the parliament is now acting illegally.
Both the whereabouts and the legitimacy of Yanukovych were unclear on Sunday, after he left the capital on Saturday.
Fears have percolated that some regions might try to break away after three months of political standoff that has left scores of people dead in a country of strategic importance to the United States, European nations and Russia.
A plane with Yanukovych onboard was denied permission to take off Saturday evening from Donetsk, a city in eastern Ukraine that has been part of the president's support base, the State Border Guard Service said.
The president's spokesman said Sunday morning that even he does not know where Yanukovych is.
Ukraine is deeply divided between eastern regions that are largely pro-Russian and western areas that widely detest Yanukovych and long for closer ties with the European Union.
Yanukovych's shelving of an agreement with the EU in November in favour of closer ties with Russia set off the wave of protests, but they quickly expanded their grievances to corruption, human rights abuses and calls for Yanukovych's resignation.
The Kiev protest camp at the centre of the anti-Yanukovych movement filled with more and more demonstrators on Sunday, setting up new tents after two days that saw a stunning reversal of fortune in Ukraine's political crisis.
Thousands took part in a multiconfessional service there, to remember those who perished in the fierce clashes during the three-month confrontation between anti-government protesters and the authorities.
A makeshift memorial has also been set up in Independence Square, also known as Maidan, with people bringing flowers and lighting candles on a daily basis.

Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ] ​​
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]


You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]

свернуть