From CNN, where you can read more on the story:
Ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said Friday at a news conference in Russia that he was not overthrown but was forced to flee under threat to his life.
“I intend to continue the fight for the future of Ukraine against those who, with fear and with terror, are attempting to replace the power. Nobody has overthrown me. I was compelled to leave Ukraine due to a direct threat to my life and my nearest and dearest,” he said, speaking Russian, not Ukrainian.
Yanukovych, making his first public appearance since his ouster, said the newly appointed interim government was not legitimate and did not represent the majority of Ukraine’s 45 million citizens.
And he accused the interim authorities in Ukraine of propagating violence.
Yanukovych, who spoke backed by Ukraine’s blue-and-yellow flags before reporters in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, said he was “ashamed” that he had not been able to maintain stability in his country.
“I want to apologize in front of everybody — to the veterans, to the Ukrainian people — that I did not have the strength to stop what is now taking place in the country from taking place,” he said.
Yanukovych insisted he had not fled Ukraine but had left after he was “shot at virtually from all sides” while traveling within the country.
He said the country must remain “united and undivided,” in the face of concerns that the Russian-majority Crimean region may seek to secede.
But at the same time, he said, “The citizens of Crimea do not want to be subordinate to nationalists and bandits.”
In related news, reports are saying that Russia has been positioning their forces near Ukraine’s border, and concerns are being raised on a possible move into the country:
Russian military exercises near Ukraine are raising concerns that Moscow may be putting troops in position to move across the border if such orders are issued, a senior U.S. official familiar with the most recent administration assessment told CNN Thursday.
But the United States still believes that Russia doesn’t plan to order its forces into its tumultuous neighbor, the official said on the condition of anonymity.
U.S. officials — who are monitoring the area 24 hours a day — have not yet seen signs that Russia is preparing to secure supply and transportation routes that would be crucial to any such movement, the official said.
Russian military activity levels observed by the United States also “appear to be within normal range,” the official said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov offered reassurances Thursday to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry that the exercises were previously planned and were not being carried out because of the upheaval in Ukraine, echoing an earlier conversation between U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
You can read more of that here.
