Uncertainty in Ukraine as president leaves Kiev

The regime of president Viktor Yanukovich appeared to be crumbling on Saturday morning, with the president's whereabouts unknown and opposition protesters taking control of the presidential administration in Kiev.

Mr Yanukovich appeared on TV in the afternoon to denounce what he described as a "coup d'etat, saying he was in Kharkiv- his power base in the mainly Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine - he said he would not resign and had no intention of leaving the country.

Meanwhile in Kiev, a special session of parliament passed a law to release from jail his arch-rival Yulia Tymoshenko, co-leader of the 2004 "Orange" revolution, who was imprisoned by Mr Yanukovich in 2011.

Hryhory Nemyria, a Tymoshenko ally in parliament, said she was expected to be released within hours

As several senior loyalists including the speaker of Ukraine's parliament resigned, anti-government protesters over-ran the capital's government district, from which police withdrew a day earlier.

"We control the presidential building," said Ostap Kryvdyk, a protest activist.

"Three of our people are there inside protecting all the infrastructure, secret documents in co-operation with the presidential guards so that there will be no ransacking, so that everything will be proper," Mr Kryvdyk added.

Vitaly Klitschko, the heavyweight boxer and opposition leader, told a parliament session the president had left the capital and the assembly should adopt a resolution calling for Mr Yanukovich's formal resignation. He called for new presidential elections on May 25.

Another protest leader, Oleh Tiahnybok, head of the nationalist Svoboda party, said parliament should discuss impeaching the president.

Lawmakers on Saturday afternoon appointed, Oleksandr Turchynov, an ally of jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko as parliament's new chair. As the new head of Ukraine's parliament, Mr Turchynov could become the acting president before early elections if Mr Yanukovich resigns, dies, disappears or is impeached.

"If you look at today's votes, the groups of lawmakers from the camp of oligarchs Dmitry Firtash, Viktor Pinchuk and Rinat Akhmetov started voting in tune with the new majority," Mr Nemyria said.

The stunning developments came hours after a peace deal the president signed with opposition leaders on Friday seemed to be unravelling.

Tens of thousands of protesters refused to leave Kiev's Independence Square, where a protest camp has been in place for three months, and threatened to go after Mr Yanukovich unless he resigned by this morning.

The peace deal followed the bloodiest day in Ukraine's modern history on Thursday, when as many as 70 protesters were killed as unidentified snipers opened fire on the crowds in the square. The violence had brought the ex-Soviet republic to the verge of civil war, with signs that Mr Yanukovich had been on the brink of calling in the army to clear protesters.

Mr Nemyria said the turning point for Mr Yanukovich had come when he lost the support of Ukraine's influential oligarchs. "Yesterday it became clear that Mr Yanukovich . . . lost the support of his oligarchs, and found himself alone with his 'family'," Mr Nemyria said.

In a dramatic turn of events, Ukraine's Interior Ministry, which is blamed for the protesters' deaths, issued a statement on Saturday declaring that it was siding with the people of Ukraine in their call for change and a European future.

"In this difficult moment in modern Ukrainian history, the personnel of the interior ministry declare that they serve exclusively the Ukrainian people and completely supports the aspirations of citizens for swift change," it said.

Reuters later reported that the heads of four Ukrainian security bodies, including the police's Berkut anti-riot units, had declared they would not take part in any conflict with the people.

There are fears that the presidents disappearance could leave a power vacuum in the country.

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As fears spread that Yanukovich loyalists in eastern Ukrainian regions could threaten to split their provinces off from Ukraine, Igor Kolomoisky, one of Ukraine's richest businessmen with vast industrial asset in the region, was quoted in domestic media as saying "separatism will not happen in my native [city] Dnipropetrovsk."

"Separatism will not happen in any of the southern-eastern regions of our country," he said urging politicians who still hold significant power there to back off from such initiatives.

By early afternoon, lawmakers and officials representing Mr Yanukovich's support in eastern and southern regions of Ukraine gathered in Kharkiv. They put down fears that the country could split on an east-west axis issuing a declaration saying that they are for "peace, lawfulness, against fascism and for a united country."

By midday on Saturday, lawmakers in parliament announced that Mr Yanukovich had resigned, promising to provide further details later in the day. Ms Herman denied this without providing further information on his whereabouts.

As tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Kharkiv to celebrate Mr Yanukovich's ousting, Yanukovich-loyalists holding a congressthere took a step towards splintering away from Kiev's authority by announcing they would take authority in eastern and southern Ukraine, as well as the autonomous republic of Crimea to "restore constitutional order."

However, within minutes Ukraine's cabinet of ministers, headed by Yanukovich loyalist and acting premier Serhiy Arbuzov, issued a statement assuring citizens that the "situation in Ukraine remains manageable." The government also made clear that government recognised the actions of parliament, "the highest legislative organ as" legitimate and is "acting within its authority."

Russian president Vladimir Putin's spokesman, stoked fears that Russia could back separatist politicians in Kharkiv.

"In these regions order is the rule, and I think, that these regions today are the stronghold of stability in Ukraine, in contrast to western regions where government buildings are being seized with weapons, armoured personnel carriers and government is being destroyed," Alexei Pushkov said.

Quoted on Russian television while visiting Moscow, Oleg Tsarov, a pro-Russian Ukrainian MP, said "we still have a president that is alive and legitimate, though we don't know where he is."

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