The Wall Street Journal reports,''ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych made his first statement since Saturday in a statement provided to Russian news agencies, in which he said he still considers himself the country's legitimate leader and that the actions of parliament that stripped him of his powers were illegal.
Mr. Yanukovych—who last appeared in a television interview Saturday—also asked Russia to ensure his personal safety "against the actions of extremists." Russia responded by agreeing to provide security to Mr. Yanukovych within Russian territory, Russian state news agencies reported, citing unnamed government officials. A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin wasn't immediately available for comment''.
The statement came hours after dozens of armed men took control of the parliament and local government offices in the Ukrainian region of Crimea, barricading themselves inside and raising a Russian flag above the building. Ukraine's acting interior minister, Arsen Avakov, said that Ukraine's military and police had been put on alert.
Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who was confirmed as prime minister in parliament Thursday, said Mr. Yanukovych is "no longer president, but a wanted man suspected of mass murder and crimes against humanity," Interfax reported.
Taken together, the moves raised the volume on threats of secession in Ukraine's ethnically Russian-dominated eastern regions, where Mr. Yanukovych drew most of his support.
In his statement, Mr. Yanukovych said that people in Crimea and Ukraine's southeast would be unwilling to accept a new administration elected by "a mob in a square," a reference to Kiev's Independence Square where protesters remain gathered and have been weighing in on the selection of a new government.
"It has become obvious that the people in the southeast of Ukraine and Crimea do not accept the anarchy and lawlessness in the country," he said.
The tensions have grown most pronounced in Crimea, where the commandeering of the local government building marked a sharp escalation of events in a region that has become a flashpoint for a backlash against the pro-Western protesters that drove Ukraine's pro-Kremlin leader from power on Saturday. On Thursday, Crimea's parliament announced that it was calling for a regionwide referendum on whether to push for further autonomy from Kiev.
Ukrainian acting President Olexander Turchynov warned against any breaches of Ukrainian territory by Russian military forces, particularly those stationed in Sevastopol, the Crimean port that is home to Russia's Black Sea fleet, and said they would considered an act of "aggression."
