The speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, the closest confidante of freed opposition leader<br />Yulia Tymoshenko, has become acting president following the removal of Viktor Yanukovych.<br /><br />Oleksander Turchinov, headed Ukraine’s state security service (SBU) following the Orange Revolution in 2004.<br /><br />His appointment was followed by an overwhelming vote in favour of nationalising the sprawling private Kyiv residence of Yanukovych, whose whereabouts remain a mystery.<br /><br />But in an interview with a Ukrainian broadcaster on Saturday he maintained he was still president and that he had no intention of fleeing the country.
