Ukraine issues warrant for ousted leader over \\\'mass murder\\\'
Tuesday, 25 February 2014
KIEV, Feb 24, (AFP): Ukraine issued an arrest warrant Monday for ousted president Viktor Yanukovych over the "mass murder" of protesters and appealed for $35 billion in Western aid to pull the crisis-hit country from the brink of economic collapse.
The dramatic announcements by the ex-Soviet nation's new Western-leaning team-approved by parliament over a chaotic weekend that saw the pro-Russian leader go into hiding-came as a top EU envoy arrived in Kiev to buttress its sudden tilt away from Moscow.
Three months of unceasing protests over Yanukovych's shock decision to spurn an historic pact with the European Union in favour of closer ties with its old masters in the Kremlin culminated in days of carnage last week in Kiev that claimed almost 100 lives.