Protesters celebrate as they ride atop a truck in central Kiev, on February 22, 2014. Ukraine's parliament voted to hold early presidential elections on May 25, passing a resolution stating that Viktor Yanukovych had failed to properly fulfill his duties as president. The resolution said that Yanukovych "is removing himself (from power) because he is not fulfilling his obligations, and (that parliament) is setting elections for May 25." (AP Photo/Darko Bandic) Ukraine's President Voted Out, Flees Kiev
1. Ukraine's President Voted Out, Flees Kiev Protesters
celebrate as they ride atop a truck in central Kiev, on February
22, 2014. Ukraine's parliament voted to hold early presidential
elections on May 25, passing a resolution stating that Viktor
Yanukovych had failed to properly fulfill his duties as president.
The resolution said that Yanukovych "is removing himself (from
power) because he is not fulfilling his obligations, and (that
parliament) is setting elections for May 25." (AP Photo/Darko
Bandic)
2. Earlier today, Ukraine's parliament voted to remove
President Viktor Yanukovych from office, after months of
anti-government protest. Yanukovich, decrying the actions as a
"coup", fled Kiev, as the heads of Ukraine's security forces
appeared in parliament to declare they would not take part in any
conflict with the people. Legislators also freed Yanukovich's
biggest rival, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who had been
imprisoned since 2011 for what is widely believed to be politically
motivated reasons. After the President fled, security forces also
abandoned his official residence outside Kiev, and hundreds of
protesters and locals walked right in, roaming the lavish estate
and its grounds. Parliament also slated new presidential elections
for May 25. Collected here are photos from Ukraine over the past 24
hours, as citizens celebrate, mourn, and plan for a new future.
22.02.2014
3. Anti-government protesters light torches and mobile devices
during a rally in central Independence Square in Kiev, on February
21, 2014. (Reuters/Baz Ratner)
4. People mourn near a coffin with the body of a man, who was
killed in recent clashes between anti-government protesters,
Interior Ministry members and riot police, during a funeral
ceremony in Kiev, on February 22, 2014. (Reuters/Baz Ratner)
5. An anti-government protester waits outside the parliament
building in Kiev, on February 22, 2014. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty
Images)
6. A woman places flowers and candles at a barricade in memory
of anti-government protesters killed in recent clashes in central
Kiev, on February 22, 2014. (Reuters/Vasily Fedosenko)
7. An alleged sniper (center) and member of the pro-government
forces is beaten by anti-government protestors in Kiev, on February
22, 2014. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images)
8. An alleged sniper is beaten by anti-government protestors in
Kiev, on February 22, 2014. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images)
9. A man (center) suspected of being a sniper and member of the
pro-government forces is forced by antigovernment protestors to pay
his respects at a memorial for a victim killed in the recent
clashes in Kiev, on February 22, 2014. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty
Images)
10. A young anti-government protester looks through a shield in
City Hall in central Kiev, on February 21, 2014. (Piero
Quaranta/AFP/Getty Images)
11. Anti-government protesters attack a deputy of the Party of
Regions Vitaly Grushevsky (center) outside the Ukrainian Parliament
building in Kiev, on February 22, 2014. (Reuters/Vasily
Fedosenko)
12. A member of Berkut anti-riot unit makes victory sign as
troops prepare to leave their barracks in Kiev February 22, 2014.
The heads of four Ukrainian security bodies, including the police's
Berkut anti-riot units, appeared in parliament on Saturday and
declared they would not take part in any conflict with the people.
(Reuters/Yannis Behrakis)
13. The body of an anti-government protester killed in clashes
with the police is carried by protesters through Independence
Square in Kiev, on February 21, 2014. (AP Photo/ Marko
Drobnjakovic)
14. People listen to speakers on a stage in the center of
Kiev's Independence square, on February 22, 2014 in Kiev, Ukraine.
(Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
15. Anti-government demonstrators remain in Independence
square, on February 22, 2014. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
16. Opposition members, including leader Vitaly Klitschko (top
R) celebrate as the Ukraine's parliament voted to remove President
Viktor Yanukovich from office hours after he abandoned his Kiev
office to protesters and denounced what he described as a coup,
during a session in Kiev, on February 22, 2014.
(Reuters/Stringer)
17. Anti-government protesters react to news from Ukraine's
parliament, on February 22, 2014. Protesters took control of
Ukraine's capital on Saturday, seizing the president's office as
parliament sought to oust him and form a new government. (AP Photo/
Marko Drobnjakovic)
18. People react after the vote of the Ukrainian Parliament as
they rally outside the parliament building in Kiev, on February 22,
2014. Ukraine's parliament on February 22 voted to hold early
presidential elections on May 25, passing a resolution stating that
Viktor Yanukovych had failed to properly fulfill his duties as
president. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images)
19. Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko (left) hugs
her daughter Yevgenia upon arrival at the airport in Kiev, on
February 22, 2014. Tymoshenko was freed on Saturday during the
dramatic ouster of her arch enemy Viktor Yanukovich, setting up a
possible run for the presidency in May. (Reuters/Maks Levin)
20. Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko speaks to the
media upon her arrival at the airport in Kiev, on February 22,
2014. Tymoshenko was freed on Saturday from the hospital where she
had been held under prison guard for most of the time since she was
convicted in 2011. The former prime minister, a bitter rival of
President Viktor Yanukovich, waved to supporters from a car as she
was driven out of the hospital in the northeastern city if Kharkiv,
a Reuters photographer said. Tymoshenko, 53, was jailed in 2011 for
abuse of office over a gas deal with Russia but her supporters and
Western leaders say her trial was politically motivated.
(Reuters/Vasily Fedosenko)
21. A man takes pictures as anti-government protesters and
journalists walk on the grounds of the Mezhyhirya residence of
Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovich in the village Novi
Petrivtsi, outside Kiev, on February 22, 2014. Hundreds of people
entered the grounds of Yanukovich's sprawling residence outside
Kiev on Saturday. (Reuters/Konstantin Chernichkin)
22. A protester guards the entrance to Ukrainian President
Yanukovych's countryside residence in Mezhyhirya, on February 22,
2014. Ukrainian security and volunteers from among Independence
Square protesters have joined forces to try to protect the
presidential countryside retreat from vandalism and looting. (AP
Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
23. People wander around President Viktor Yanukovych's
Mezhyhirya estate, which was abandoned by security, on February 22,
2014. (Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)
24. A protester waves an EU flag at the Ukrainian President
Yanukovych's countryside residence in Mezhyhirya, on February 22,
2014. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
25. Anti-government protesters and journalists view ostriches
kept within an enclosure on the grounds of the Mezhyhirya residence
of Ukraine's President Yanukovich, on February 22, 2014.
(Reuters/Konstantin Chernichkin)
26. Protesters try to play on a golf course at Ukrainian
President Yanukovych's countryside residence in Mezhyhirya, on
February 22, 2014. (AP Photo/Andrew Lubimov)
27. A view of Ukrainian President Yanukovych's countryside
residence in Mezhyhirya, on February 22, 2014. Yanukovych left Kiev
for his support base in the country's Russian-speaking east, but an
aide said that he has no intention of abandoning power. (AP
Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
28. People look through windows of the Mezhyhirya residence of
Ukraine's President Yanukovich as antigovernment protesters and
journalists walk on the grounds in the village Novi Petrivtsi, on
February 22, 2014. (Reuters/Konstantin Chernichkin)
29. A man holds a bottle as anti-government protesters and
journalists walk through the grounds of the Mezhyhirya residence of
Ukraine's President Yanukovich, on February 22, 2014. Hundreds of
people entered the grounds of Yanukovich's sprawling residence
outside Kiev on Saturday but had not gone inside the building
itself, a Reuters photographer said. (Reuters/Konstantin
Chernichkin)
30. A man stands inside a bathroom with a toilet and bidet
apparently decorated with gold feet, as anti-government protesters
and journalists walk on the grounds of the residence of President
Yanukovich, outside Kiev, on February 22, 2014. (Reuters/Konstantin
Chernichkin)
31. People light candles in remembrance of the people killed
during the clashes between anti-government activists and the
Ukrainian police forces, in a church in the center of Kiev, on
February 22, 2014, after a week of escalating violence. (Piero
Quaranta/AFP/Getty Images)