Ukraine president ousted

But rejects ‘ coup’ by his parliament

In a remarkable day that could determine the future of a country, the Ukraine parliament voted President Viktor Yanukovych out of power, and the opposition leader who had been cloistered in a prison hospital returned victorious to the capital to declare that “a dictator is gone.”

Yulia Tymoshenko, the former prime minister, was freed Saturday after spending 21⁄ years in

2 prison. Hours after her release, the 53- year- old spoke to the thousands gathered at Independence Square.

“No one could do what you have done, eliminate a tumor,” she said. “A dictator is gone and you are the heroes. ... Now every person in our country must get the kind of life that these people died for,” she added, referring to the scores of protesters killed by government forces this past week. “I believe in Ukraine.”

The crisis was far from over, though, as Yanukovych remained defiant, called the vote a “coup” and reaffirmed that he will not resign.

“They are trying to scare me. I have no intention to leave the country,” he said Saturday in a televised statement.

In the vote, parliament also moved to have early elections on May 25. Lawmakers said the move to impeach was necessary. “Yanukovych is not capable of fulfilling his presidential duties,” said opposition lawmaker Oleh Lyashko.

The opposition took control of the presidential palace Saturday while Yanukovych flew to his base in the east.

The protests broke out in November after Yanukovych refused to sign a trade deal with the European Union and instead accept financial help from Russia.