Thousands of Ukrainian opposition supporters massed near the president's office on Tuesday seeking to install their leader in power in defiance of election results they see as rigged by a pro-Moscow government. Hours earlier, pro-Western opposition head Viktor Yushchenko had symbolically taken the oath of office as 200,000 rallied at parliament in driving snow and freezing temperatures. The act carried no legal weight but marked a blunt challenge to the establishment figure who according to official results won the election, prime minister Viktor Yanukovich. It will also be viewed with deep concern by Yanukovich's Kremlin backers. The crowd, chanting "Yushchenko! Yushchenko!", moved in a sea of orange opposition flags and banners towards the presidential offices, occupied by outgoing president Leonid Kuchma, and stopped at a cordon of riot police some distance from the building. In scenes reminiscent of protests that brought the resignation of Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze exactly a year ago, protesters standing in heavy late evening snow urged police to join the demonstration. --More 2353 Local Time 2053 GMT
