Ukraine's parliamentary speaker, a confidant of President Viktor Yanukovych, resigned Saturday as tens of thousands of protesters rallied in Kiev despite a deal to end the crisis, according to dpa. Volodymyr Rybak was stepping down for health reasons, his deputy in the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Koshulynsky, said. The protesters on Independence Square are keeping up their demand for Yanukovych to step down and reinforced barricades in the capital overnight, in defiance of the deal that stipulates they must withdraw from public buildings. The president's powers were seen to be dwindling after parliament implemented key opposition demands Friday, only hours after he signed a settlement with opposition leaders to end the bloodshed. Andriy Paruby, one of the protest leaders, told the Segodnya newspaper that so-called self-defence units had control over the presidency, the parliament and other government buildings in the capital. "We demand the immediate resignation of the president," Paruby said. Yanukovych's whereabouts were not known. Media reports said the embattled leader had travelled to Khariv Friday night, along with allies and at least a dozen bodyguards. The region near the Russian border is a stronghold of the embattled leader. "I have no information on the whereabouts of the president," said Yuri Miroshnyshenko, Yanukovych's representative in parliament. The Health Ministry said Friday the unrest in Kiev had claimed at least 77 lives since Tuesday. Most of the deaths occurred Thursday, making it the bloodiest day in the country's recent history.
