Ukrainian President Yanukovych has said he has no intention of quitting and has described events in the capital Kiev events as a “coup”.
The opposition is effectively in control of the city and parliament.
Protesters have walked unchallenged into the president’s official and residential buildings.
A deal was reached between Mr Yanukovych and opposition leaders on Friday, but many protesters continue to demand his resignation.
In a pre-recorded interview aired on a Ukrainian TV station shortly after 16:00 local time (14:00 GMT), Mr Yanukovych said he needed to “protect the people” and that he would “spare no effort to end the bloodshed”.
The station gave Mr Yanukovych’s location as the eastern city of Kharkiv, close to the Russian border.
He said was the legitimately elected president, and that he would not leave Ukraine and would not resign.
He described the events in Kiev as “vandalism, banditry and a coup”.
He also called a raft of votes in Ukraine’s parliament on Friday “illegitimate”.
All but one of 387 MPs present voted in favour of restoring the 2004 constitution, as mandated by the agreement signed on Friday. The 2004 constitution reduces the powers of the presidency.
MPs also voted to pave the way for the release of Mr Yanukovych’s arch-rival Yulia Tymoshenko, who was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2011 for abuse of power.
BBC
