Support for the Sovereignty, Integrity, Democracy, and Economic Stability of Ukraine Act of 2014 of protests by Euromaidan and days of violent clashes between protesters and police in the Ukrainian capital Kiev—the President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, fled the capital on February 21. The Verkhovna Rada (the parliament of Ukraine) subsequently voted unanimously to impeach Yanukovych. This was followed by the interim appointment of the Yatsenyuk Government, as well as the appointment of a new Acting President of Ukraine, Oleksandr Turchynov. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said President Yanukovych was illegally impeached and that Russia continues to regard him as Ukraine’s legitimate president. Russia describes the Yatsenyk government as "self-proclaimed" and the events
History of Crimea in the aftermath of the Euromaidan revolution. On 21 February, President Viktor Yanukovych agreed to a three-party memorandum that would have kept him in office until the end of the year. Within 24 hours the agreement was broken by the Maidan-activists and the president was forced to flee. He was dismissed the following day by a rump Verkhovna Rada, the legislature elected in 2012, and the Government he dismissed was replaced by a non-elected, illegal "Government", contrary to the Constitution. In the absence of a president, the newly appointed Speaker of the legislature, Oleksandr Turchynov, became acting President with limited