Ukraines new leaders order arrest of former pres on mass murder charges.

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http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/02/24/ukraine-new-leaders-order-arrest-president-yanukovych/
 
 Ukraine's new leaders order arrest of former President Yanukovych Published February 24, 2014 FoxNews.com     

•   Feb. 24, 2014: A protester stands guard next to a barricade at Independence Square in Kiev, Ukraine. Ukraine's acting government issued a warrant Monday for the arrest of President Viktor Yanukovych, last reportedly seen in the pro-Russian Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, accusing him of mass crimes against protesters who stood up for months against his rule. (AP)
•   February 23, 2014: People paint on the KGB officers monument in Kiev, Ukraine. (AP Photo/Andrew Lubimov)

  Next Slide Previous Slide   Ukraine's acting government announced Monday that an arrest warrant has been issued for the country's former president, Viktor Yanukovych, whose whereabouts are unknown.
 
In a statement on his official Facebook page, acting interior minister Arsen Avakhov wrote that Yanukovych and several other officials were wanted on charges of "mass killing of civilians" in violence that engulfed Ukraine's capital city, Kiev, earlier this week. At least 82 people, most of them protesters, were killed in clashes with members of the police and security forces. Some of the dead were shot by snipers in strategic positions overlooking the main protest camp in Kiev's Independence Square.
Calls are mounting in Ukraine to put Yanukovych on trial after a tumultuous presidency in which he amassed powers, enriched his allies and cracked down on protesters.
 
Avakhov said Yanukovych arrived in the pro-Russian Black Sea peninsular region of Crimea on Sunday and relinquished his official security detail before driving off to an unknown location.
Ukrainian law enforcement agencies said earlier Monday that they have no information about the whereabouts of Yanukovych, who reportedly was seen in the port city of Sevastopol, home of Russia's Black Sea Fleet.
After signing an agreement with the opposition to end a conflict that turned deadly, Yanukovych fled the capital for eastern Ukraine. Ukraine's border service said he tried to fly out of the country Saturday from Donetsk but was stopped by their officials.
 
Opposition lawmaker Volodym Kurennoy said on his Facebook page that he had unconfirmed information that the president had been arrested in Crimea. Ukrainain news portal Liga.net also reported that Sevastopol residents saw Yanukovych in the company of Russian marines.
But the claims could not be independently verified, and spokespersons for the regional and national Interior Ministry and Security Service said Monday they had no such information.
Avakhov published a letter that he said was from Yanukovych, dated Monday, in which he gives up his security guard. Yanukovych's aides and spokespeople could not be reached Monday to verify the reported letter -- they have been rapidly distancing themselves from him as his hold on power disintegrates.
 
Yanukovych set off a wave of protests by shelving an agreement with the EU in November and turning toward Russia, and the movement quickly expanded its grievances to corruption, human rights abuses and calls for Yanukovych's resignation.
"We must find Yanukovych and put him on trial," said protester Leonid Shovtak, a 50-year-old farmer from the western Ivano-Frankivsk region who came to Kiev's Independence Square to take part in the three-month protest movement. "All the criminals with him should be in prison."
 
The acting finance minister said Monday that the country needs $35 billion (25.5 billion euros) to finance government needs this year and next and expressed hope that Europe or the United States would help.
"The state treasury has been torn apart, the country has been brought to bankruptcy," Arseniy Yatsenyuk, a protest leader and prominent lawmaker whose name is being floated as a possibility for prime minister, said in parliament Monday.
The speaker of parliament, Oleksandr Turchinov, assumed the president's powers Sunday, but a presidential aide told the AP on Sunday that Yanukovych plans to stay in power. Turchinov said Monday that he hopes to form a coalition government by Tuesday.
 
But emotions are running high among the country's rival parties. When a leading member of Yanukovych's party, Oleksandr Efremov, told parliament Monday that he was crossing over to the opposition, an opposition lawmaker got up and waved his fist in Efremov's face, showering him with insults.
Russia's prime minister said the legitimacy of the new Ukrainian authorities is questionable.
Dmitry Medvedev said Monday, according to Russian news agencies, that the new authorities have come to power as a result of "armed mutiny," so their legitimacy is causing "big doubts."
 
He said that Russia doesn't know with whom to communicate in Ukraine, and criticized the West for recognizing the new authorities following the ouster of Yanukovych.
Tensions have also been mounting in Crimea, where pro-Russian protesters gathered in front of city hall in the port of Sevastopol on Monday chanting "Russia! Russia!" Russia maintains a big naval base in Sevastopol that has tangled relations between the countries for two decades. The head of the city administration in Sevastopol quit Monday.
 
Turchinov has said that top priorities include saving the economy and "returning to the path of European integration," according to news agencies. The latter phrase is certain to displease Moscow, which wants Ukraine to be part of a customs union that would rival the EU and bolster Russia's influence. Russia granted Ukraine a $15 billion bailout after Yanukovych backed away from the EU deal.
U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt said the U.S. is ready to help Ukraine get aid from the International Monetary Fund.
 
The European Union, meanwhile, is reviving efforts to strike a deal with Ukraine that could involve billions of euros in economic perks. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is visiting Kiev on Monday and Tuesday.
The protest movement has been in large part a fight for the country's economic future -- for better jobs and prosperity.
Ukraine has struggled with corruption, bad government and short-sighted reliance on cheap gas from Russia. Political unrest has pushed up the deficit and sent exchange rates bouncing, and may have pushed the economy back into a recession.
 
Per capita economic output is only around $7,300, even adjusted for the lower cost of living there, compared to $22,200 in Poland and around $51,700 in the United States. Ukraine ranks 137th worldwide, behind El Salvador, Namibia, and Guyana.
Ukraine has a large potential consumer market, with 46 million people, an educated workforce, and a rich potential export market next door in the EU. It has a significant industrial base and good natural resources, in particular rich farmland.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.