Ukraine's President Voted Out, Flees Kiev

FEB 22, 2014 Earlier today, Ukraine's parliament voted to remove President Viktor Yanukovych from office, after months of anti-government protest. Yanukovich, decrying the actions as a "coup", fled Kiev, as the heads of Ukraine's security forces appeared in parliament to declare they would not take part in any conflict with the people. Legislators also freed Yanukovich's biggest rival, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who had been imprisoned since 2011 for what is widely believed to be politically motivated reasons. After the President fled, security forces also abandoned his official residence outside Kiev, and hundreds of protesters and locals walked right in, roaming the lavish estate and its grounds. Parliament also slated new presidential elections for May 25. Collected here are photos from Ukraine over the past 24 hours, as citizens celebrate, mourn, and plan for a new future. Also, see: Kiev Truce Shattered, Dozens Killed, from yesterday.

Protesters celebrate as they ride atop a truck in central Kiev, on February 22, 2014. Ukraine's parliament voted to hold early presidential elections on May 25, passing a resolution stating that Viktor Yanukovych had failed to properly fulfill his duties as president. The resolution said that Yanukovych "is removing himself (from power) because he is not fulfilling his obligations, and (that parliament) is setting elections for May 25." (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Anti-government protesters light torches and mobile devices during a rally in central Independence Square in Kiev, on February 21, 2014. (Reuters/Baz Ratner)

People mourn near a coffin with the body of a man, who was killed in recent clashes between antigovernment protesters, Interior Ministry members and riot police, during a funeral ceremony in Kiev, on February 22, 2014. (Reuters/Baz Ratner)

An anti-government protester waits outside the parliament building in Kiev, on February 22, 2014. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images)

A woman places flowers and candles at a barricade in memory of anti-government protesters killed in recent clashes in central Kiev, on February 22, 2014. (Reuters/Vasily Fedosenko)

An alleged sniper (center) and member of the pro-government forces is beaten by anti-government protestors in Kiev, on February 22, 2014. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images)

An alleged sniper is beaten by anti-government protestors in Kiev, on February 22, 2014. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images)

A man (center) suspected of being a sniper and member of the pro-government forces is forced by antigovernment protestors to pay his respects at a memorial for a victim killed in the recent clashes in Kiev, on February 22, 2014. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images)

Anti-government protesters attack a deputy of the Party of Regions Vitaly Grushevsky (center) outside the Ukrainian Parliament building in Kiev, on February 22, 2014. (Reuters/Vasily Fedosenko)

A member of Berkut anti-riot unit makes victory sign as troops prepare to leave their barracks in Kiev February 22, 2014. The heads of four Ukrainian security bodies, including the police's Berkut anti-riot units, appeared in parliament on Saturday and declared they would not take part in any conflict with the people. (Reuters/Yannis Behrakis)

The body of an anti-government protester killed in clashes with the police is carried by protesters through Independence Square in Kiev, on February 21, 2014. (AP Photo/ Marko Drobnjakovic)

People listen to speakers on a stage in the center of Kiev's Independence square, on February 22, 2014 in Kiev, Ukraine. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Anti-government demonstrators remain in Independence square, on February 22, 2014. (Jeff J Mitchell/ Getty Images)

Opposition members, including leader Vitaly Klitschko (top R) celebrate as the Ukraine's parliament voted to remove President Viktor Yanukovich from office hours after he abandoned his Kiev office to protesters and denounced what he described as a coup, during a session in Kiev, on February 22, 2014. (Reuters/Stringer)

Anti-government protesters react to news from Ukraine's parliament, on February 22, 2014. Protesters took control of Ukraine's capital on Saturday, seizing the president's office as parliament sought to oust him and form a new government. (AP Photo/ Marko Drobnjakovic)

People react after the vote of the Ukrainian Parliament as they rally outside the parliament building in Kiev, on February 22, 2014. Ukraine's parliament on February 22 voted to hold early presidential elections on May 25, passing a resolution stating that Viktor Yanukovych had failed to properly fulfill his duties as president. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images)

Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko (left) hugs her daughter Yevgenia upon arrival at the airport in Kiev, on February 22, 2014. Tymoshenko was freed on Saturday during the dramatic ouster of her arch enemy Viktor Yanukovich, setting up a possible run for the presidency in May. (Reuters/Maks Levin)

Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko speaks to the media upon her arrival at the airport in Kiev, on February 22, 2014. Tymoshenko was freed on Saturday from the hospital where she had been held under prison guard for most of the time since she was convicted in 2011. The former prime minister, a bitter rival of President Viktor Yanukovich, waved to supporters from a car as she was driven out of the hospital in the northeastern city if Kharkiv, a Reuters photographer said. Tymoshenko, 53, was jailed in 2011 for abuse of office over a gas deal with Russia but her supporters and Western leaders say her trial was politically motivated. (Reuters/Vasily Fedosenko)

A man takes pictures as anti-government protesters and journalists walk on the grounds of the Mezhyhirya residence of Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovich in the village Novi Petrivtsi, outside Kiev, on February 22, 2014. Hundreds of people entered the grounds of Yanukovich's sprawling residence outside Kiev on Saturday. (Reuters/Konstantin Chernichkin)

People wander around President Viktor Yanukovych's Mezhyhirya estate, which was abandoned by security, on February 22, 2014. (Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)

A protester waves an EU flag at the Ukrainian President Yanukovych's countryside residence in Mezhyhirya, on February 22, 2014. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Protesters try to play on a golf course at Ukrainian President Yanukovych's countryside residence in Mezhyhirya, on February 22, 2014. (AP Photo/Andrew Lubimov)

A man holds a bottle as anti-government protesters and journalists walk through the grounds of the Mezhyhirya residence of Ukraine's President Yanukovich, on February 22, 2014. Hundreds of people entered the grounds of Yanukovich's sprawling residence outside Kiev on Saturday but had not gone inside the building itself, a Reuters photographer said. (Reuters/Konstantin Chernichkin)

A view of Ukrainian President Yanukovych's countryside residence in Mezhyhirya, on February 22, 2014. Yanukovych left Kiev for his support base in the country's Russian-speaking east, but an aide said that he has no intention of abandoning power. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

People look through windows of the Mezhyhirya residence of Ukraine's President Yanukovich as antigovernment protesters and journalists walk on the grounds in the village Novi Petrivtsi, on February 22, 2014. (Reuters/Konstantin Chernichkin)

People light candles in remembrance of the people killed during the clashes between anti-government activists and the Ukrainian police forces, in a church in the center of Kiev, on February 22, 2014, after a week of escalating violence. (Piero Quaranta/AFP/Getty Images)

http://www.theatlantic.com/