Viktor Yanukovich

Pressure swelled Monday for Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to bow out gracefully from a hard-fought and narrowly lost presidential race. But the calls for closure were met with silence from Tymoshenko. The politician known for her relentless drive and seemingly bottomless patience for political tussles stayed out of sight as the country waited for a concession -- or a battle cry. Events appeared to be marching forward without her. Hundreds of supporters of her opponent, Viktor Yanukovich, celebrated his victory -- and called upon Tymoshenko to relinquish the campaign -- in a rowdy rally in central Kiev, the capital.

The Ukrainian parliament voted Wednesday to sack the government headed by Orange Revolution leader Yulia Tymoshenko, pushing the firebrand, pro-Western politician back into the opposition. The vote came as recently inaugurated President Viktor Yanukovich shores up power. Long a bitter rival of Tymoshenko, the president was widely expected to marginalize the prime minister -- and move Ukraine closer to Moscow -- once he took office. The pair battled fiercely for the prize of the presidency this winter, with each candidate appealing to half of the deeply divided country.

Supporters of Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said Tuesday that she would turn to the courts to address fraud in the weekend presidential election, in which her foe leads by a decisive margin. With virtually all of the votes counted, figures from Ukraine's Central Election Commission showed Tymoshenko trailing her archrival, Viktor Yanukovich, by more than 3 percentage points. International monitors and the U.S. government have congratulated Ukraine on a fair election. But vague whispers of impending defiance continued to emanate from Tymoshenko's corner.

Supporters of Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said Tuesday that she would turn to the courts to address fraud in the weekend presidential election, in which her foe leads by a decisive margin. With virtually all of the votes counted, figures from Ukraine's Central Election Commission showed Tymoshenko trailing her archrival, Viktor Yanukovich, by more than 3 percentage points. International monitors and the U.S. government have congratulated Ukraine on a fair election. But vague whispers of impending defiance continued to emanate from Tymoshenko's corner.

Viktor Yanukovich, the former mechanic who just six years ago was shunned as a pro-Moscow stooge, declared victory in Ukraine's presidential election Sunday after early exit polls showed him leading by a slim margin. Three exit polls showed Yanukovich leading by 4 to 5 percentage points in a runoff election that threatens to deepen political instability in the contentious former Soviet state. His opponent, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, refused to concede, and the numbers were being bitterly argued into the early hours Monday.

Losing presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovich appealed the results of last month's election to Ukraine's Supreme Court, arguing that massive fraud was committed, a court spokeswoman said. Unofficial results from the Dec. 26 balloting show opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko the winner. Yushchenko won in a revote after challenging Yanukovich's claim of victory in the original presidential runoff Nov. 21. Yanukovich maintains that he remains the legitimately elected president.

More than 70,000 demonstrators in Kiev called on the president to defeat a challenge from the rival prime minister by dissolving parliament and calling new elections. A smaller rally supported the prime minister. President Viktor Yushchenko accused Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich of trying to usurp power by recruiting lawmakers allied with the president. Dissolving parliament could spark a crisis, particularly if Yanukovich's coalition refuses to abide by such a move.

Ukraine's pro-Russian parliamentary majority nominated President Viktor Yushchenko's Orange Revolution foe as premier after a chaotic session in which the president's frustrated allies brawled and refused to take their seats. The nomination of Viktor Yanukovich, whose fraud-marred run for the 2004 presidency sparked the Orange Revolution mass protests, was a humiliating setback for Yushchenko, who defeated Yanukovich in a court-ordered election rerun.

The main Ukrainian opposition party joined up with two other groups in parliament Friday, and the new coalition proposed pro-Russian politician Viktor Yanukovich as prime minister. The realignment means that Yanukovich, the Kremlin-backed candidate in the 2004 presidential election that sparked the mass protests dubbed the Orange Revolution, could end up serving as prime minister to his onetime opponent, President Viktor Yushchenko.

The Supreme Court rejected an array of motions from defeated Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovich on Monday but did not issue a final ruling on the former prime minister's attempt to fend off the inauguration of his Western-leaning rival. After a day of arguments, the court adjourned until today, leaving open the question of when former opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko might be inaugurated. Yushchenko was declared the winner of a Dec.

Pressure swelled Monday for Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to bow out gracefully from a hard-fought and narrowly lost presidential race. But the calls for closure were met with silence from Tymoshenko. The politician known for her relentless drive and seemingly bottomless patience for political tussles stayed out of sight as the country waited for a concession -- or a battle cry. Events appeared to be marching forward without her. Hundreds of supporters of her opponent, Viktor Yanukovich, celebrated his victory -- and called upon Tymoshenko to relinquish the campaign -- in a rowdy rally in central Kiev, the capital.

Viktor Yanukovich, the former mechanic who just six years ago was shunned as a pro-Moscow stooge, declared victory in Ukraine's presidential election Sunday after early exit polls showed him leading by a slim margin. Three exit polls showed Yanukovich leading by 4 to 5 percentage points in a runoff election that threatens to deepen political instability in the contentious former Soviet state. His opponent, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, refused to concede, and the numbers were being bitterly argued into the early hours Monday.

When it comes to messy politics -- and old-fashioned entertainment -- it's hard to top the theatrics of the relatively young democracy in Ukraine. Here are a few choice moments from the presidential campaign that ended with Sunday's runoff election: While on a campaign stop in the western city of Lviv -- an area typically unreceptive to his historically pro-Russia politics -- candidate Viktor Yanukovich had an embarrassing slip of the tongue, Ukrainian...

Viktor Yanukovich, the burly former mechanic ousted by popular revolt just five years ago, salvaged himself to claim top place among contenders for the Ukrainian presidency Sunday, exit polls indicated. His longtime rival, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, will be a close second, the survey predicted. The exit poll results, if borne out by the slow counting of ballots, mean that the contentious pair will battle for the presidency in a runoff next month. The choice of a new leader marks a milestone in Ukraine's post-Soviet evolution, and many voters appeared disillusioned and hungry for change -- if wary of fresh rounds of infighting and scrapping for power among the Ukrainian elite.

Five years after he was discounted as Moscow's stooge and shunted to the margins of Ukrainian politics, Viktor Yanukovich has regained his lost prestige -- and then some. To the surprise of many, the towering, plain-spoken politician has emerged as the clear front-runner in the presidential vote to be held Sunday. His popularity represents a remarkable reversal of fortunes: In 2004, Ukraine's presidential election dissolved into massive street protests and widespread outrage when the Supreme Court ruled that Yanukovich, then the prime minister, had won the election fraudulently.

Warning that falsification of parliamentary election results would be punished, President Viktor Yushchenko on Monday ordered a criminal inquiry into delayed vote counting in regions that are strongholds of his longtime rival, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich. The prime minister, for his part, accused parties associated with the president of prematurely claiming victory based on exit polls rather than waiting for the ballots cast in Sunday's election to be counted.

The Moscow-backed loser of Ukraine's presidential election staved off his pro-Western rival's inauguration for another day by persuading the Supreme Court to block publication of the official result Tuesday. Overnight, the Central Election Commission had declared that Viktor Yushchenko would be Ukraine's next president, after more than two weeks of political limbo following the Dec. 26 vote.

When it comes to messy politics -- and old-fashioned entertainment -- it's hard to top the theatrics of the relatively young democracy in Ukraine. Here are a few choice moments from the presidential campaign that ended with Sunday's runoff election: While on a campaign stop in the western city of Lviv -- an area typically unreceptive to his historically pro-Russia politics -- candidate Viktor Yanukovich had an embarrassing slip of the tongue, Ukrainian...

In the midst of a bitter political standoff, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko issued a decree Friday transferring control of Interior Ministry troops into his own hands and away from a minister loyal to his longtime rival, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich. The prime minister said the president's action was unconstitutional.

In an effort to resolve a political crisis, Ukraine's president and prime minister agreed Friday to hold early parliamentary elections this summer or fall. The deal, which sets the stage for a fresh match between the political camps that faced off during the nation's Orange Revolution, is a victory for President Viktor Yushchenko, who had pressed for an early vote.