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Ukraine ushers in new era as president flees

New interior minister Arsen Aviakov announced the launch of a probe into police involvement in the “execution” of protesters in a week of carnage that turned Kiev’s heart into a war zone.

Yanukovych was dealt another blow when his own Regions Party issued a statement condemning him for issuing “criminal orders” that led to so many deaths.

Parliament also voted to dismiss Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara after sacking the federal police chief and prosecutor general on Saturday.

And it took the symbolic step of handing over Yanukovych’s marble-lined mansion outside Kiev – its vast car collection and golden toilet fixtures opened up for public viewing on Saturday – to the state.

Western countries gave vital but cautious backing to the sweeping changes in Ukraine while Russia once again cautioned that payment of its huge bailout package was on hold.

Ukraine stands on the precipice of a default and owes nearly $13 billion in debt payments this year – money it cannot drum up on financial markets because of prohibitively expensive borrowing costs.

US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew told a G20 meeting in Sydney that Washington “stands ready to assist Ukraine as it implements reforms to restore economic stability and seeks to return to a path of democracy and growth”.

US National Security Adviser Susan Rice warned it was in no one’s interest to see crisis-hit Ukraine break apart.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin also tried on Sunday to calm some of the Cold War-style joisting that had erupted between the West and Moscow over Ukraine’s future in the past weeks.

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A Merkel spokesman said the two leaders agreed on the need to preserve Ukraine territorial integrity – a reference to the deep cultural fissure that runs between the pro-European west of the country and its far more Russified east.

Russian Finance Minister Alexei Ulyukayev for his part confirmed that disbursement of the remaining $12 billion in Moscow’s assistance package was on hold until the political situation in Kiev cleared up.

“The fact that the opposition groups have prevailed means that the Russia rescue deal of last December will now almost certainly be withdrawn,” said Chris Weafer of the Moscow analysts Macro Advisory.

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