Free Republic

Western nations have called on Russia to ease tensions in Ukraine's Crimea region after armed men seized the local parliament and raised the Russian flag. Russia also scrambled fighter jets along its borders as part of military exercises it announced a day earlier. Moscow said it was willing to work with the West on averting a crisis, but warned foreign powers against taking decisions on behalf of Ukrainians. Meanwhile, the ousted Ukrainian president is reported to be in Russia. Viktor Yanukovych plans to hold a news conference in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don on Friday, Russia's Ria news agency...

Ukraine’s fugitive president surfaced on Thursday in Moscow, where he was said to have been seen at an opulent five-star hotel and a Kremlin country retreat once favored by the late Boris Yeltsin. Viktor Yanukovych reportedly was granted protection in Russia, but he has not received a warm reception. Although Russia still considers him the legitimate president of Ukraine, the Kremlin has treated him cautiously and portrayed him as a coward who betrayed those who stood by him. …

SEVASTOPOL, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s acting government issued an arrest warrant Monday for President Viktor Yanukovych, accusing him of mass crimes against the protesters who stood up for months against his rule. Russia sharply questioned its authority, calling it an “armed mutiny.” Yanukovych himself has reportedly fled to the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, a pro-Russian area in Ukraine. Calls are mounting in Ukraine to put Yanukovych on trial, after a tumultuous presidency in which he amassed powers, enriched his allies and family and cracked down on protesters.

The Ukrainians got rid of a corrupt, delusional tyrant? Color me jealous... If you didn't see the pics of Yanukovych's tacky mansion, that's -here-  It's already been nationalized, and there's talk of turning into a 'Museum of Corruption'. Nobody knows where the deposed/impeached president is at still, most likely back in his power base of eastern Ukraine- an arrest warrant has been issued in his name. Tellingly, Yanukovych delivered his last, desperate TV address in Russian. And Ukrainian expats were roaming the streets of London yesterday, looking for a major Yanukovych ally (Rinat Akhmentov) they expect to see arriving at his extravagant London flat soon.  Akhmetov had received over 30% of government tenders... up until this last weekend, anyway....

KIEV, Ukraine — A day after President Viktor F. Yanukovych fled the Ukrainian capital and was removed from power by a unanimous vote in Parliament, lawmakers moved swiftly on Sunday to dismantle the remaining vestiges of his government by firing top cabinet members, including the foreign minister. With Parliament, led by the speaker, Oleksandr V. Turchynov, firmly in control of the federal government — if not yet the country as a whole — lawmakers began an emergency session on Sunday by adopting a law restoring state ownership of Mr. Yanukovych’s opulent presidential palace, which he had privatized. Parliament voted to...

A vast country estate, marble-lined mansions, a private golf course and zoo: the unimaginable luxury of the private residence of departed Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych flung open for all to see. As parliament voted to oust Yanukovych Saturday and he fled to a pro-Russian bastion in east Ukraine after months of bloody protest again his rule, thousands of Ukrainians wondered awestruck around the breathtaking luxury of his abandoned property some 110 miles from Kiev after it was taken by demonstrators. "I am in shock," said retired military servicewoman Natalia Rudented, as she looked out over the manicured lawns studded with...

I don’t know about you, but I can’t make heads or tails out of what’s going on in the Ukraine. Butt if you squint, it looks just like another Arab Spring…only in Ukraine. All I know is that Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was forced to flee Kiev, leaving his swanky chateau open for public tours to view how their betters live: They came to see the awesome crystal chandeliers, the collections of cars, boats and motorcycles,   They also enjoyed visiting the on-site zoo housing everything from exotic peacocks to the more traditional farm-to-table fare. and playing a round of...

Parliament on Feb. 22 voted overwhelmingly to impeach embattled Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Lawmakers applauded as the votes came in - 328 in all - to oust the president. Following the vote, parliamentarian stood and sang the national anthem. Parliament on Feb. 22 voted overwhelmingly to impeach embattled Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Lawmakers applauded as the votes came in - 328 in all - to oust the president. Following the vote, parliamentarian stood and sang the national anthem. Rumors swirled earlier in the day that he had resigned, but in a pre-recorded video interview, the defiant president said: “I am...

Protesters have toppled statues of Russian revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin in various Ukrainian cities. The latest footage shows protesters destroying statues in Bila Tserkva, Khmelnitsky and Zhytomyr. When anti-government protests erupted in Kiev in December, protesters toppled a Lenin statue in the Ukrainian capital Kiev.

Ukraine's parliament is seeking to take charge, appoint new leaders and schedule a new presidential election by May.

KIEV, Ukraine — An opposition unit took control of the presidential palace outside Kiev on Saturday, as leaders in Parliament said Ukraine’s president, Viktor F. Yanukovych, had fled the capital a day after a deal was reached aimed at ending the country’s spiral of violence.

Ukraine President Yanukovych office seized by protesters, residence abandoned, whereabouts unknown. Video

If what The Interpreter’s hearing is true, Yanukovych has left Kiev for the city of Kharkiv. Maybe that’s because he’s lost control of the capital or maybe, as the State Department claims, he’s gone to Kharkiv to, ahem, shore up support. Either way, though, there’s no scenario where the government simply abdicates and the opposition takes over. Russia won’t relinquish the country that easily. So either things are about to get even rougher in Kiev as Putin fills the power vacuum or Yanukovych is planning a new move. What does that mean? Naval War College prof John Schindler fears the...

Parliament voted to free ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko from prison by decriminalizing the article in the criminal procedural code under which she was convicted. A constitutional majority of 310 lawmakers from a cross-section of different parties, including the Communists, voted for the measure. This makes the legislation veto-proof, preventing President Viktor Yanukovych from blocking the move. Yanukovych is widely blamed for ordering the imprisonment of his political rival. The bill that parliament passed included other articles of the criminal procedural code that were decriminalized. Batkivshchyna Party lawmaker Oleksandr Turchynov, a close ally of Tymoshenko and her former deputy prime minister,...

Russian President Vladimir Putin is sending an envoy to Ukraine to try to mediate talks between the government and the opposition, the Kremlin said Thursday. Russia’s outgoing ombudsman Vladimir Lukin will travel to Kiev after Putin suggested the initiative in a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Lukin’s second and final term as presidential ombudsman expired Tuesday. “Vladimir Petrovich [Lukin] is known for his diplomatic savvy and enjoys recognition with human rights activists. He also used to head a major opposition party,” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Sadly, everything you need to know about the crisis in Ukraine in one worrisome map which summarizes all the relevant "red lines." Given this - is there any doubt this will not end with peaceful resolution. As Martin Armstrong warned this morning: BOTH the USA and EU will now fund the rebels as Russia will fund Yanukovych. At the political level, Ukraine is the pawn on the chessboard. The propaganda war is East v West. However, those power plays are masking the core issue that began with the Orange Revolution – corruption. Yanukovych is a dictator who will NEVER leave...

Crowd of Protesters Appears to Be GrowingSecurity forces pulled back Wednesday from the Ukrainian capital's main square and government buildings after a failed effort overnight to end the weekslong protest that has left the country in its worst political crisis in nearly a decade. Riot police wearing black helmets and carrying shields had pushed through makeshift barricades early Wednesday and were met by hundreds of protesters, some wearing orange hard hats, who had hastily gathered to defend the encampment. While scuffles broke out between police and some demonstrators and opposition lawmakers, the security forces kept their clubs at their sides...

The Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza (March 1) provided details of Russia’s growing grip over Ukraine’s security forces. According to Gazeta Wyborcza, then Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin only dropped his support for Yulia Tymoshenko in mid-2011. This came about as a consequence of two factors. First, the criminal case against Tymoshenko removed her as a political actor and counter-weight to President Viktor Yanukovych, whom Putin did not have a high regard for. According to a US diplomatic cable, Prime Minister Putin “‘hates’ Yushchenko and has a low personal regard for Yanukovych, but apparently sees Tymoshenko as someone, perhaps not that...

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Belarus, Georgia, Russia and Ukraine are already or are swiftly becoming 'mafia states' according to a senior Spanish prosecutor cited in US diplomatic cables. The appraisal, given by Spanish prosecutor Jose 'Pepe' Grinda Gonzalez to US diplomats in Madrid in February this year, noted: "He considers Belarus, Chechnya and Russia to be virtual 'mafia states' and said that Ukraine is going to be one. For each of those countries, he alleged, one cannot differentiate between the activities of the government and OC [organised crime] groups." Mr Grinda added that Georgian citizens play key roles in criminal...

BRUSSELS/KIEV, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Viktor Yanukovich will meet European Union leaders next Monday on his first foreign trip as Ukraine's president, opting to visit Brussels before Russia, EU officials said on Tuesday. "I will receive the President of Ukraine here in Brussels next Monday; I think it's the first visit he makes outside his country after his election," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told a news briefing. There was no immediate confirmation by Yanukovich, who has been closely linked with Russia but has been careful to avoid appearing too close to Moscow and has called for gradual integration...