Ukraine's leading English-language newspaper since 1995

Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine’s president, strengthened his grip on power on March 11 as a new governing coalition was agreed in parliament and Mykola Azarov. Roman Olearchyk writes:Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine’s president, strengthened his grip on power on March 11 as a new governing coalition was agreed in parliament and Mykola Azarov, one of his loyalists, was appointed prime minister. On Wednesday Yanukovych signed a law allowing a coalition to be formed based on individual lawmakers, instead of party factions, as Ukraine’s constitution requires. The new president’s move risks calling the legitimacy of the coalition into question. Opposition groups called it an illegal power grab and “constitutional coup” and said they would challenge it in Ukraine’s constitutional court. Read the story here.