Change Ukraine: Rais aikimbia Ikulu, mpinzani wake kuachiwa

Waandamaji wamefanikiwa kuingia ofisi za Ikulu baada ya polisi kuingia mitini. Waandamaji wameweka walinzi wao nje ya Ikulu, huku Waziri wa Mambo ya ndani akisema kuwa anawaunga mkono.
Waandamaji wanasema watailinda Ikulu mpaka Rais mwingine atakapokuja, lakini huyu aliyeingia mitini.
Wasaidizi wa Rais Viktor Yanukovych wanadai kuwa yuko katika mji wa Kharkhiv ulio karibu na Russia.
Wakati hayo yakiendelea Bunge limepiga kura ya kutaka kiongozi wa upinzani Yulia Tymoshenko aachiliwe mara moja kutoka gerezani.

By EMT

Feb. 22, 2:12 p.m. Kuna ushahidi kuwa wakati anajiandaa kuingia mitini Rais Yanukovych alijaribu kuharibu documents nyeti zilizokuwa zimehifadhiwa kwenye makabrasha yake. Wapinzani ambao sasa wameyashika makazi yake wamevua documents nyingi za siri kutoka bahari ya Kyiv ambapo mto Dnipro unamwaga maji yake. Sasa hivi wanajaribu kuzikausha hizo documents kwenye kamba kama zile za kuanikia nguo.
Baadhi ya documents hizo zinamhusisha mwandishi wa habari Tetyana Chornovol ambaye alimlaumu Rais Yanukovych kwa kutoa amri ya kumtesa mwandishi huyo kutokana na uchunguzi wake juu ya rais huyo kujihusisha na vitendo vya rushwa.
Pia wamekuta invoices zinazohusiana na ujenzi wa jengo fulani kwenye mji wa Mezhyhyria ambalo Rais alidai kuwa siyo lake, orodha ya waandishi wa habari waliokuwa blacklisted na pia orodha ya plate numbers za magari ambayo mwandishi huyo wa habari (Chornovol) anaendesha.
Source - Vlad Lavrov

By EMT

Feb. 22, 4:19 p.m. In televised interview today, a defiant President Viktor Yanukovych said that he has not resigned. He said, apparently from Kharkiv or somewhere in eastern Ukraine, that parliament speaker Volodymyr Rybak was attacked and that lawmakers from his Party of Regions defected due to threats made against them. He likened the moves by opposition lawmakers and others in parliament today to coup d'etat. -- Christopher J. Miller