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| Ukrainian MPs vote to oust President Yanukovych | Ukrainian MPs vote to oust President Yanukovych |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Ukrainian MPs have voted to oust President Yanukovych and hold early presidential elections on 25 May. | Ukrainian MPs have voted to oust President Yanukovych and hold early presidential elections on 25 May. |
| Mr Yanukovych's spokeswoman said he did not accept the decision. | Mr Yanukovych's spokeswoman said he did not accept the decision. |
| Earlier on Saturday, protesters walked unchallenged into the president's office and residential compounds. | Earlier on Saturday, protesters walked unchallenged into the president's office and residential compounds. |
| Also on Saturday afternoon, prominent opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko was freed from a hospital in the eastern city of Kharkiv where she was being held under prison guard. | Also on Saturday afternoon, prominent opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko was freed from a hospital in the eastern city of Kharkiv where she was being held under prison guard. |
| A BBC correspondent saw Tymoshenko driven away in a car after leaving the hospital. She is now reported to be heading to Kiev's Independence Square - also called the Maidan - which has been the focal point of anti-government protests. | |
| MPs had voted to pave the way for her release on Friday. She was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2011 for abuse of power. | MPs had voted to pave the way for her release on Friday. She was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2011 for abuse of power. |
| Her supporters have always maintained this was simply Mr Yanukovych taking out his most prominent opponent, and her release has always been a key demand of the protest movement. | Her supporters have always maintained this was simply Mr Yanukovych taking out his most prominent opponent, and her release has always been a key demand of the protest movement. |
| 'Coup' denounced | |
| The opposition is now in effective control of the capital Kiev, with Mr Yanukovych now in Kharkiv, near the Russian border. | The opposition is now in effective control of the capital Kiev, with Mr Yanukovych now in Kharkiv, near the Russian border. |
| The vote to "remove Viktor Yanukovych from the post of president of Ukraine" was passed by 328 MPs. | The vote to "remove Viktor Yanukovych from the post of president of Ukraine" was passed by 328 MPs. |
| Such ballots, passed by what is called constitutional majority, are binding and enter into force with immediate effect, the BBC's Ukraine analyst Olexiy Solohubenko reports. | |
| In an address televised before the vote to impeach him, Mr Yanukovych described events in Kiev as a "coup". | In an address televised before the vote to impeach him, Mr Yanukovych described events in Kiev as a "coup". |
| He insisted he was the "lawfully elected president" and compared the actions of the opposition to the rise to power of the Nazis in 1930s Germany. | He insisted he was the "lawfully elected president" and compared the actions of the opposition to the rise to power of the Nazis in 1930s Germany. |
| In his address Mr Yanukovych also called a raft of votes in Ukraine's parliament on Friday "illegitimate", claiming that MPs had been "beaten, pelted with stones and intimidated". | In his address Mr Yanukovych also called a raft of votes in Ukraine's parliament on Friday "illegitimate", claiming that MPs had been "beaten, pelted with stones and intimidated". |
| However, he did admit that that some had left his party, calling them "traitors". | However, he did admit that that some had left his party, calling them "traitors". |
| Before Saturday's vote to oust Mr Yanukovych, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the Ukrainian opposition of being led by "armed extremists and pogromists" whose actions were a threat to Ukraine's sovereignty and constitutional order. | |
| Also before the vote, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski - one of three EU ministers that mediated between the two sides this week - tweeted that there had been "no coup in Kiev". | |
| Mr Sikorski, along with the German and French foreign ministers, presided over talks that led to a pact on Friday between Mr Yanukovych and opposition leaders which now seems to have been overtaken by events. | |
| The deal followed several days of violence in which dozens of people died in a police crackdown on months of protest. | |
| The agreement failed to end the protests overnight with huge crowds remaining in the Maidan. | |
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