Yanukovych says he won't resign; parliament appoints Turchynov as acting prime minister

Despite numerous reports,that Ukraine’s embattled President Viktor Yanukovych has resigned on Feb. 22 and fled the country, Yanukovych appeared on television to say that he was in fact in Kharkiv and had no plan to leave office.

His multimillion-dollar Mezyhyria manson north of Kyiv was abandoned at 2 a.m. today, according to security guards.
However, his loyal adviser, member of parliament Hanna Herman, says Yanukovych has not resigned. The report that he quit came from opposition member of parliament Ivan Kyrylenko,
Police forces pulled out from the city, leaving many government buildings unguarded.

The Interior Ministry issued a statement today saying that the police support the people of Ukraine and mourn the nearly 100 lives lost in anti-government protests since January, including 49 on Feb. 20.

In a quick spate of votes during the emergency parliamentary session today, lawmakers - besides appointing Turchynov as speaker and prime minister and Arsen Avakov as interior minister - also voted to free imprisoned former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and were considering voting to impeach the president before breaking until 4 p.m.
“The failure to sign the laws is absolutely valid grounds for Yanukovych's immediate resignation,” Yatseniuk said, adding that the president was supposed to sign the bills “as early as yesterday.”

Rumors swirled in the morning that Yanukovych had flown by private jet to Kharkiv, his stronghold in eastern Ukraine, or perhaps abroad, someplace in the United Arab Emirates. None of these could be confirmed. However, he has not been seen in public and members of parliament said they don't know his whereabouts.

Herman, the Yanukovych advisor, told the Kyiv Post that the president was in Kharkiv but would not be taking part in a meeting planned by the regional governor to discuss separating the eastern part of the country from the west.


But her words conflicted with those of a top Party of Regions member of parliament and longtime Yanukovych loyalist, who said that the president was not in the country.
Culled from Kyivpost