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Yanukovich says is Ukraine's commander-in-chief, army will ignore 'criminal orders'

Other News Materials 11 March 2014 13:41 (UTC +04:00)
Ukraine's ousted leader, Viktor Yanukovich, reiterated on Tuesday that he was the country's legitimate president and commander-in-chief, saying he was sure the armed forces would refuse to obey any "criminal orders"
Yanukovich says is Ukraine's commander-in-chief, army will ignore 'criminal orders'

Ukraine's ousted leader, Viktor Yanukovich, reiterated on Tuesday that he was the country's legitimate president and commander-in-chief, saying he was sure the armed forces would refuse to obey any "criminal orders", Reuters reported.

In a statement in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, Yanukovich remained unswayed in his argument that "extremists" had taken power in the Ukrainian capital Kiev. He told journalists that a presidential election set for May 25 would be illegal.

As a result of protests in Ukraine, the country's President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted on Feb. 22. The Verkhovna Rada (parliament) has approved the new composition of the parliament and is preparing to hold pre-term elections.

On Feb. 26 several thousand people participating in two rallies gathered in front of Supreme Council of Crimea. After the escalation of the protest actions in Crimea, the Federation Council supported President Vladimir Putin's appeal regarding the use of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine pending "the normalization of the socio-political situation in that country".

Leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and the U.S., as well as chairman of the European Council and the chairman of the European Commission made a joint statement condemning Russia's position on Ukraine and canceled the preparations for the G8 summit in Sochi, scheduled for June 2014.

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