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Dizzying weekend in Ukraine leaves country on edge
2/24/2014 7:34:09 AM
- President Viktor Yanukovych reportedly tries to leave Ukraine; insists he is still in charge
- Parliament appoints an acting president; a former prime minister is freed from prison
- Lawmakers vote to hold new elections on May 25
- United States: Russian military interference in Ukraine would be 'grave mistake'
(CNN) -- The turmoil in Ukraine has swept aside its president, brought about the release a prominent opposition leader and raised fears the country could break apart.
After the bloodshed in the streets of Kiev last week -- the worst violence Ukraine has suffered since its independence 22 years ago -- the political twists and turns came thick and fast over the weekend.
As a new week begins, uncertainty has taken a hold in the divided nation as Ukraine tries to reshape its political landscape.
Here's what you need to know to get caught up:
Who's in charge?
It depends whom you ask.
The Parliament voted to oust President Viktor Yanukovych, a key demand of protesters. It appointed seasoned lawmaker Oleksandr Turchinov as a new speaker who will take on Yanukovych's duties until new elections in May.
Turchinov, a longtime ally of opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, has promised a new interim government by Tuesday.
"We have a legitimate source of authority in Kiev, which is the democratically elected Parliament and a democratically, constitutionally elected speaker of parliament, who is acting president," Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who helped broker a peace deal between the government and the opposition, said on CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS.
But Yanukovych claims he's still in charge, saying he was forced to leave Kiev because of a "coup."
"I don't plan to leave the country. I don't plan to resign. I am the legitimate President," he said Saturday in a televised broadcast.
From prison to center stage for Tymoshenko
Where exactly is Yanukovych?
Unclear. He made his TV broadcast from Kharkiv, a pro-Russian stronghold near the border. And he reportedly tried to board a charter plane Saturday night in the eastern city of Donetsk, but was turned away because he didn't have the right papers.
Ukraine's acting interior minister has said that government officials don't know the whereabouts of Yanukovych and two of his top ministers.
He's definitely not in his lavish presidential compound near Kiev that thousands of Ukrainians have now been able to explore after he fled. People have been roaming around the mansion and its vast grounds, staring at the opulence in which Yanukovych lived, including peacocks, vintage cars and a huge galleon-style riverboat for parties.
Does the former president have any support left?
His political party appears to have turned against him, saying it blames him for the "robbery and deception" of the nation. It accused Yanukovych of making illegal orders that led to casualties, financial debt and shame in the eyes of the world.
But it's notable that Yanukovych was last seen in Kharkiv, in eastern Ukraine. It's his traditional support base and a predominantly Russian-speaking region.
People in the east, the country's industrial heartland, tend to look to Russia as Ukraine's key ally. Many of them are suspicious of the Europe-leaning views of those in western Ukraine, who were at the heart of the protests against Yanukovych that filled central Kiev for months.
The demonstrations began after Yanukovych scrapped a European Union trade deal and turned toward Russia for financial support.
Does this mean Ukraine is in danger of splitting?
A lot of people with Russian heritage in eastern Ukraine feel that their cultural identity is under threat with the pro-European side in the ascendancy in Kiev.
"I think that divide goes very, very deep -- it's regional, it's linguistic, it's religious," New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, whose father grew up in Ukraine, told CNN's Zakaria.
Some analysts say they fear parts of eastern Ukraine could push to break away from a pro-Western government in Kiev in favor of Russia.
The task for Yanukovych's opponents is to chart a course for Ukraine that keeps all sides on board.
"They need to be inclusive," said Poland's Sikorski.
Acting President Turchinov said Sunday that Ukraine is ready to talk to Kremlin to try to improve relations, but made clear that Kiev's return to European integration would be a priority.
How has Russia reacted to the political change?
Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, condemned what he called Western attempts to influence the outcome of the turmoil in Ukraine.
"Either they don't understand the consequences of what they're doing, or they're engaged in a very provocative game of destabilizing Ukraine and therefore Eastern Europe," he said in a post on his official Twitter account.
Everybody's waiting to see how Russian President Vladimir Putin, a key backer of Yanukovych, responds.
"If you look through Putin's eyes specifically, this is his area of interest," said David Remnick, the editor of the New Yorker and a former foreign correspondent in Moscow.
Putin, whose country just finished hosting the Winter Olympics in Sochi, won't quietly let Ukraine shift into a Western orbit, Remnick said.
"I think Putin is in a very tough, assertive mode and it has nothing to do with snowboarding, it has to do with his geostrategic, regional interests," he said. "It has to do with differentiating himself from the West, morally as well as politically, and I think he's a very tough figure to deal with now."
What is the U.S. stance?
National Security Adviser Susan Rice warned that it "would be a grave mistake" if Putin intervened militarily in the crisis.
"The United States is on the side of the Ukrainian people," she said on NBC's "Meet the Press." The people expressed themselves peacefully, she said, and Yanukovych "turned on" the people by using violence against them.
But Washington has a delicate task getting involved in a crisis in an area that Russia sees as its backyard.
"This is really complicated for us," Remnick said.
The State Department has warned U.S. citizens to defer all non-essential travel to Ukraine.
Poland's Sikorski, meanwhile, urged Ukrainian leaders to keep dialogue open with Moscow.
"The new Ukrainian government needs to be in touch, needs to have a conversation with Russia, which is an important neighbor, just like Poland," he said. "Because, apart from anything else, Ukraine needs the lower gas price and doesn't want Russia to play the separatist card."
Who's likely to lead Ukraine next?
There are plenty of candidates but no clear favorite yet. Turchinov, who Parliament appointed acting leader, is at the helm until elections on May 25.
The anti-Yanukovych coalition is fractious, full of different voices.
Who's who in Ukraine
Former world champion heavyweight boxer Vitali Klitschko has been the most well-known opposition figure during the crisis. There's also Arseniy Yatsenyuk, a former foreign minister.
Adding to the field, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was released Saturday after 2½ years behind bars.
The former prime minister lost to Yanukovych in elections in 2010. A year later, she was sentenced to seven years in prison after being convicted of abuse of authority over a natural gas deal negotiated with Russia.
After her release, she addressed cheering crowds in Kiev's Independence Square, calling Yanukovych a "terrible dictator."
She then passed on a not-so-subtle message.
"There'll be no Ukraine but the Ukraine you want," she said. "And I'm the guarantor of that Ukraine."
She said Sunday that she doesn't want to be considered for the nomination for prime minister, suggesting she may have her eye on the presidency.
"The challenge for the opposition moving forward from here is going to be maintaining unity," said CNN correspondent Phil Black.
What was behind Ukraine's political crisis
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh, Fred Pleitgen, Steve Almasy, Victoria Butenko and Ashley Fantz contributed to this report.
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