Image copyright Reuters Image caption Opposition deputies reacted with joy after the vote 
 
 Ukrainian MPs have voted to oust President Viktor Yanukovych and hold early presidential elections on 25 May. 
 
 The vote came after police stopped guarding presidential buildings, allowing protesters in, and parliament made new high-level appointments. 
 
 Mr Yanukovych said it was a "coup" and vowed not to stand down. 
 
 And on a day of fast-moving events, prominent opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko was released from detention, hours after MPs authorised the move. 
 
 She left the hospital in the eastern city of Kharkiv where she had been held under prison guard, and flew to Kiev, where she addressed the demonstrators in Independence Square. 
 
 Ms Tymoshenko was freed following a vote by parliament on Friday demanding her release. 
 
 She was sentenced to seven years in jail in 2011 after a controversial verdict on her actions as prime minister. 
 
 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. 
 
 BBC correspondents in Ukraine Kevin Bishop ‏@bishopk: Looks like Olexander Turchynov, Rada Speaker, (Ukrainian Parliament), is acting head of state as there is no prime minister, sacked earlier 
 
 Duncan Crawford @_DuncanC: A huge shrine to the dead is now on the edge of Independence Sq. Hundreds of flowers and candles. Duncan Crawford @_DuncanC: .Yanukovych's official annual salary was reportedly anywhere between $30000 to $115,000 a year. I wonder how he could afford a zoo etc..? 
 
 Daniel Sandford ‏@BBCDanielS: Interfax say [Kharkiv regional governor] Dobkin left Ukraine for Russia. Not much of a brave last stand. Daniel Sandford ‏@BBCDanielS: The Kharkiv prison authorities did what parliament said, so at the moment parliament is winning the power struggle. Your move Yanukovych Profile: Yulia Tymoshenko Yanukovych defiance: Full text 
 
 On Thursday, the bloodiest day of recent unrest, at least 21 protesters and one policeman died. 
 
 Ms Tymoshenko told journalists at Kiev airport that those behind violence "must be punished", the Interfax agency reports. 
 
 'Coup' denounced 
 
 The opposition is now in effective control of the capital Kiev, with Mr Yanukovych in Kharkiv, near the Russian border, after travelling there late on Friday night. 
 
 The Interfax news agency reported parliament speaker Oleksandr Turchynov as saying Mr Yanukovych had been stopped by border police in an attempt to flee to Russia and was now somewhere in the Donetsk region. 
 
 Earlier on Saturday, protesters walked unchallenged into the president's office and residential compounds. 
 
 Image copyright AP Image caption Tymoshenko greeted supporters on her release from detention in Kharkiv 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption More funerals took place in the Maidan on Saturday for those killed in this week's violence 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Those suspected of being members of the security services were attacked in central Kiev 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption Protesters walked into Mr Yanukovych's official residence near Kiev unopposed 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption Meanwhile in the eastern city of Donetsk, a new separatist movement called the Eastern Front held a rally 
 
 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. 
 
 Analysis Events in Ukraine are moving at too fast a pace to provide any coherent analysis that won't be obsolete in hours, if not minutes. So here is a list of people and places to watch as the situation continues to develop - and twist and turn: Yulia Tymoshenko: The freed prime minister is a political force of nature. But she is also divisive and, before she went into prison, her popularity ratings were dropping. Many Ukrainians blame her in part for the chaos of the post-Orange Revolution years, or see her as a member of Ukraine's corrupt political elite. We will see if the last two years in prison have changed her or the public's opinion of her. Crimea: Ukraine's predominantly ethnic-Russian province is also the home to Russia's Black Sea fleet, in Sevastopol. If President Viktor Yanukovych - or Vladimir Putin - wants to start something, it could very likely happen here. The Maidan: Will the protesters go home now? And what role will Ukraine's far right play - not just the fighters of the Right Sektor, but also the ultra-nationalist Freedom party, which has done much of the heavy lifting during the protest movement? 
 
 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. 
 
 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 of the Regions, calling them "traitors". 
 
 President Yanukovych also said his ally, parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Rybak, was forced to resign because he had been physically beaten. 
 
 Mr Rybak resigned on Saturday morning citing ill health, and was replaced by Mr Turchynov, a Tymoshenko ally. 
 
 Another Tymoshenko ally, Arsen Avakov, was appointed interim interior minister, replacing Vitaly Zakharchenko - who was sacked on Friday after being blamed for the deaths of civilians in last week's crackdown on protests. 
 
 Pact overtaken 
 
 Before the vote to oust Mr Yanukovych, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski - one of three EU ministers who mediated between the two sides this week - tweeted that there had been "no coup in Kiev". 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse takes a look around the presidential retreat 
 
 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. It called for the restoration of the 2004 constitution and the formation of a national unity government. 
 
 The agreement failed to end the protests overnight with huge crowds remaining in the Maidan calling for Mr Yanukovych's resignation. 
 
 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the deal had been "sharply degraded by opposition forces' inability or lack of desire" to respect it and accused "illegal extremist groups" of taking control of Kiev, Reuters reports. 
 
 The protests first erupted in late November when President Yanukovych rejected a landmark association and trade deal with the EU in favour of closer ties with Russia. ||||| MOSCOW/KIEV Russia told European governments on Tuesday to stop meddling in Ukraine's political crisis and said events could be spinning out of control in Kiev after violence that left vehicles burning in the streets. 
 
 Moscow, which sees its fellow former Soviet republic as part of its traditional sphere of influence, has watched nervously as protests against President Viktor Yanukovich's decision to shun a trade pact with the European Union have turned violent. 
 
 Scores of police and demonstrators have been hurt since Yanukovich, who received a multi-billion-dollar bailout package from Moscow after he spurned the EU deal, angered opponents by signing sweeping laws to curb public protests. 
 
 Criticizing "members of certain European governments" for visiting the protesters in Kiev, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said: "We would prefer that some of our European colleagues refrained from acting unceremoniously over the Ukrainian crisis. 
 
 "It is just distasteful," he said, adding that such action had helped encourage the protests. 
 
 In December, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Guido Westerwelle, at the time Germany's foreign minister, visited the protesters. 
 
 EU ministers have also denounced the new laws curbing public protests as "anti-democratic". 
 
 Lavrov criticized the protesters for using "violence, attacks on police, arson, Molotov cocktails and explosive devices" and he called their behavior a "complete violation of all European standards of behavior". 
 
 Russian state television has been repeatedly showing footage of the clashes and what appears to be protesters smashing the windows of a bus, underlining the case for the tough legislation and police action to curb violence. 
 
 "OUT OF CONTROL" 
 
 "I personally think that these calls for prudence, which the leaders of the opposition and Vitaly Klitschko in particular are now making, show that the situation is spinning out of control," Lavrov said. 
 
 Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said in an interview with Russian state broadcaster Russia 24 the government would use force if clashes in Kiev do not cease. 
 
 "If the provocateurs do not stop, then the authorities will have no other choice but to use force under the law to protect our people," said Azarov. 
 
 One of Lavrov's deputies, Grigory Karasin, spoke by telephone with a Ukrainian deputy foreign minister on Tuesday and expressed "concern about provocative actions by radical opposition forces", the Russian Foreign Ministry said. 
 
 It said Russia supported a Ukrainian statement that promised the government would do all it can to resolve the situation peacefully through dialogue - a pledge some opposition protesters suspect was a bid to buy time. 
 
 "We are waiting to see what these talks produce, but there's little hope. Yanukovich is pretending he does not see us or hear us," said Vasyl Somkovych, 30, a protester from the region of Ivano-Frankivsk in largely pro-European western Ukraine. 
 
 In Kiev, a presidential aide ruled out the declaration of a state of emergency to quell the unrest. 
 
 Asked by a journalist if the presidency was considering such a step, Andriy Klyuev, secretary of the National Council of Security and Defense, said: "There will be no declaration of a state of emergency. 
 
 On Tuesday, 2,000-3,000 protesters faced about 1,000 police in central Kiev, where Reuters reporters saw nine burnt-out buses and trucks, smoke wafting from some of the tyres. 
 
 Cobblestones were strewn across a main street where violence erupted on Sunday. Priests were among people walking in an area between a police line and a protesters' barricade. 
 
 Police periodically beat their shields with truncheons and constantly boomed out warnings to protesters through megaphones. 
 
 "We will act according to the situation," said Sergei, 45, a protester from western Ukraine. "If the OMON (riot police) attack, we will respond with full force." 
 
 (Editing by Gareth Jones and Janet Lawrence) nL5N0KV115 ||||| KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych refused to meet Tuesday with an opposition leader who came to his office hoping for negotiations, dimming hopes for a resolution soon to the political crisis that has escalated into vicious street clashes between protesters and police. 
 
 Protesters burn car tires as they clash with police in central Kiev, Ukraine, early Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2014. After a night of vicious street battles, anti-government protesters and police clashed again... (Associated Press) 
 
 Opposition supporters, right, escort people believed to be government-hired thugs away from an opposition camp in central Kiev, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2014. About thirty young men believed to be hired... (Associated Press) 
 
 Protesters clad in improvised protective gear prepare for a clash with police in central Kiev, Ukraine, early Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2014. After a night of vicious street battles, anti-government protesters... (Associated Press) 
 
 Protesters react to tear gas as they clash with police, in central Kiev, Ukraine, Monday, Jan. 20, 2014. After a night of vicious streets battles, anti-government protesters and police clashed anew Monday... (Associated Press) 
 
 Protesters clad in improvised protective gear prepare for a clash with police in central Kiev, Ukraine, Monday, Jan. 20, 2014. After a night of vicious streets battles, anti-government protesters and... (Associated Press) 
 
 An opposition supporter, right, escorts people believed to be government-hired thugs away from an opposition camp in central Kiev, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2014. About thirty young men believed to be... (Associated Press) 
 
 Opposition supporters, left, and, second from left, escort people believed to be government-hired thugs away from an opposition camp in central Kiev, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2014. About thirty young... (Associated Press) 
 
 Protesters assist a wounded comrade, in central Kiev, Ukraine, early Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2014. After a night of vicious street battles, anti-government protesters and police clashed again Monday in Ukraine's... (Associated Press) 
 
 Protesters assist a wounded comrade, in central Kiev, Ukraine, early Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2014. After a night of vicious street battles, anti-government protesters and police clashed again Monday in Ukraine's... (Associated Press) 
 
 Protesters fire at police with fireworks, in central Kiev, Ukraine, Monday, Jan. 20, 2014. After a night of vicious streets battles, anti-government protesters and police clashed anew Monday in the Ukrainian... (Associated Press) 
 
 A protester stands on top of a barricade during during clashes with police in central Kiev, Ukraine, early Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2014. After a night of vicious street battles, anti-government protesters and... (Associated Press) 
 
 Ukraine's two-month standoff shifted into a new phase after Yanukovych pushed through harsh anti-protest laws last week in an attempt to quash the demonstrations calling for his ouster. The mass protests in Kiev, the capital, erupted after Yanukovych spurned a pact with the European Union in favor of close ties with Russia, which offered him a $15 billion bailout. 
 
 Seeing the government ignore their demands and opposition leaders unable to present a coherent plan or even select a single leader, radical protesters have clashed with riot police in Kiev since Sunday, hurling stones and fire bombs at police and getting hit with tear gas and rubber bullets in return. 
 
 "A revolution is under way in Ukraine," said Petro Denkovets, 34, an entrepreneur. "What revolution takes place peacefully? Each side is showing its strengths. The government, its troops, and we, our fearlessness." 
 
 In a bid to ease the crisis, opposition leader Vitali Klitschko, who is a heavyweight boxing champion, went to Yanukovych's office for face-to-face talks on Tuesday, but was received only by his aides. The aides were part of a working group that Yanukovych told to hold negotiations with the opposition. 
 
 Yanukovych's office said the president was in a meeting at the time. But Klitschko held out hope that the leader would receive him later Tuesday. 
 
 "The center of the city of Kiev has been burning for two days," a disappointed Klitschko said. "The president sits two blocks away and does not hear it." 
 
 Despite heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures, several thousand protesters remained camped outside a government district in Kiev in front of rows of helmeted riot police who hid behind metal shields. Charred buses stood covered with ice, the ground was dotted with stones and the popular rock song "I will not give up without a fight" blared over the crowd. 
 
 The protesters had managed to hold their ground overnight, even as police moved in to dismantle some barricades. Fighting lulled on Tuesday morning, after Orthodox priests intervened and asked both sides for calm. 
 
 Still, nearly 1,500 activists sought medical help after the clashes, according to Oleh Musiy, who runs the protesters' medical team. 
 
 Opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who had previously condemned violent protests, said the situation has changed. 
 
 "People have received the right to switch from peaceful to non-peaceful protest because the deafness of the authorities and their disregard for the people," he said Tuesday. 
 
 His ally, the jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, also urged Ukrainians to go to the barricades. 
 
 "There is no other way for the people to deal with the mafia. Those standing on the front lines for Ukraine are heroes!" Tymoshenko said in a statement. 
 
 Heeding the call, young women worked Tuesday to clear the protest site of debris. Nearby, middle-aged men and women produced a drum beat of protest by hitting metal barrels and shields with sticks. In one dramatic scene, three black-robed Orthodox priests, holding crosses and icons, walked in between the police and the protesters, causing the fighting to stop. 
 
 During the clashes Monday night, Klitschko claimed that groups of young men had been hired by pro-government forces to smash shop windows and set cars ablaze in Kiev to create a pretext for the government to introduce martial law. 
 
 Protesters chased the men around, captured them and took them to be questioned. In a video broadcast by several Ukrainian media organizations, the activists showed a hammer and other tools used by the assailants. The protesters then marched the captives down the street and forced them to apologize. 
 
 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, meanwhile, accused the West of instigating the protests and some EU politicians of joining them. 
 
 "We would prefer that our European colleagues, at least some of them, don't behave in such an unceremonious way in connection with the Ukrainian crisis," he said. "It's simply unseemly and this is what is heating up the situation."
– Scourge of the modern protester: Ukraine demonstrators this morning got this text on their cell phones: “Dear subscriber, you are registered as a participant in a mass disturbance," reports the New York Times. The threat is clear enough, given that the government also made it a crime punishable by prison to take part in such demonstrations. But the attempt to scare away protesters didn't work—clashes with police continued in Kiev. Protesters have been taking to the streets for two months now, angry that President Viktor Yanukovych rejected a trade pact with the EU in favor of stronger ties with Russia. An opposition leader arrived at Yanukovych's office today but was rebuffed by the leader, reports AP. Russia, meanwhile, accused European nations of encouraging the protests and demanded that they stop "meddling," reports Reuters. "The situation is spinning out of control," says Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.