Authorities in Ukraine have issued an arrest warrant for ousted
President Viktor Yanukovych, saying he is wanted for the "mass killings"
of civilians. FULL STORY
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Ukraine issues arrest warrant for ousted President Viktor Yanukovych
February 24, 2014 -- Updated 2104 GMT (0504 HKT)
Ousted Ukraine president on the run
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: "This is not a restoration of the Cold War," White House spokesman says
- Russian Foreign Ministry accuses opposition of "dictatorship and terror"
- Opposition leader says missing President is trying to "avoid responsibility"
- Ousted President Viktor Yanukovych hasn't been seen since Saturday
Viktor Yanukovych is not in Kiev. The mayor of Kharkiv, where Yanukovych was Saturday, says he hasn't seen him in a few days.
He's also apparently not
hiding in a bunker in a Ukrainian Orthodox monastery, a church spokesman
said, swatting down the latest speculation.
Ukraine's onetime -- and, by his account, current -- President is facing a warrant for the "mass killings" of civilians.
Ukraine's president defiant
Over the weekend, he fled
to Kharkiv, a pro-Russian stronghold near the border. And he tried to
board a charter plane in the eastern city of Donetsk but was turned away
because he didn't have documents.
Ukraine: what's next?
Ukraine in transition
Future for Ukraine uncertain
In his last known public
act, he delivered a televised speech Saturday from Kharkiv in which he
rejected the parliament's ouster and vowed to fight.
"I don't plan to leave
the country. I don't plan to resign. I am the legitimate President," he
said Saturday in the televised broadcast.
Critics weren't impressed.
"It's a remarkable
situation when the most sought-after character in the country is the
President of Ukraine, who is hiding and doing everything to leave the
country, to avoid responsibility," opposition leader Vitali Klitschko
said Monday.
Yanukovych's ouster and
disappearance capped a weekend of dizzying developments after the
parliament voted to oust Yanukovych as a concession to relentless
protests, which led to the deadliest violence in the country since its
independence 22 years ago.
Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, 53, was freed from prison Saturday after 2½ years, most of them spent in a detention hospital.
Tymoshenko, a longtime
opposition leader, has accepted an invitation for medical treatment in
Germany, her press officer Marina Soroka said. She will be attending a
European People's Party summit there.
On Monday, the Ukrainian
Parliament continued work toward its goal of having a full interim
government in place by Tuesday, naming a new chief prosecutor, security
service chief and central bank head.
Parliament had already named Speaker Oleksandr Turchinov to serve as acting President. He is a longtime ally of Tymoshenko's.
The head of Ukraine's
electoral commission, Konstantin Khivrenko, said the campaign to elect a
new president will begin Tuesday, three months before the May 25
election date set by authorities.
Russia's Foreign
Ministry criticized those elections Monday, saying Ukraine's parliament
was acting rashly, and accused lawmakers of discriminating against
ethnic Russians by excluding them from the reform process.
"A course has been set
for suppressing those who disagree in different regions of Ukraine with
methods of dictatorship and terror," the Foreign Ministry said.
Some protesters gathered
Monday outside the Ukrainian parliament shouting "shame" in response to
what they see as a lack of transparency on the part of lawmakers.
Yanukovych's decision to scrap a European Union trade deal in favor of one with Russia prompted the protests in November.
Now, the country's new
leaders have made clear that Kiev's return to European integration will
be a priority. But in doing so, they risk losing the largess that the
Kremlin had bestowed on Yanukovych.
Taking no chances,
interim Finance Minister Yury Kolobov proposed Monday that an
international donor conference be held in the next two weeks. Ukraine,
he said, will need $35 billion in foreign assistance by the end of 2015.
Yanukovych has
traditionally looked upon eastern Ukraine, near Russia, as his
traditional support base. Russian culture and language are predominant
there.
People in the east are
suspicious of the Europe-leaning views of those in western Ukraine, who
were at the heart of the protests against Yanukovych that filled central
Kiev for months.
The big question: How
will Russian President Vladimir Putin respond? He's been Yanukovych's
chief ally, and Ukraine is in his backyard. Will he act militarily?
The U.S. has expressed
support for the action of parliament. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry
spoke with the Russian foreign minister Sunday and asked Russia not to
use military force in the country, according to a senior State
Department official.
The State Department also warned U.S. citizens to defer all nonessential travel to Ukraine.
"We have been very clear
that we support an independent and unified Ukraine and that the idea of
separation or partition or division is not in the interest of the
Ukrainian people, of the Ukrainian nation, of Europe, or Russia, or the
United States," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters Monday.
"This is not a
competition between East and West. This is not a restoration of the Cold
War. This is about the Ukrainian people and their future," he said.
COPY http://edition.cnn.com
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