Ukraine parliament votes to remove president

• Protesters say they believe the party intends to initiate a split of Ukraine
• Many vowed to continue demonstrations until Yanukovych steps down
• Violence escalated this week%2C leading to as many as 100 deaths

KIEV — Ukraine's parliament voted to remove President Viktor Yanukovych on Saturday, even as the embattled leader remained defiant, calling the country's political crisis a "coup" and saying he has no intention of resigning or leaving the country.

"They are trying to scare me. I have no intention to leave the country. I am not going to resign, I'm the legitimately elected president," Yanukovych said in a televised statement. "What we see today is a coup — I did everything to prevent the bloodshed. We adopted two amnesty laws. We did everything to stabilize the political situation."

"I will do everything to protect my country from breakup, to stop bloodshed," he added.

In the vote, parliament also moved to have early elections on May 25. In a deal brokered Friday to stop the violence, early elections were set for December.

Lawmakers said the move to impeach was necessary. "Yanukovych is not capable of fulfilling his presidential duties," said opposition lawmaker Oleh Lyashko. Lawmakers will also consider banning the president from running in upcoming elections.

Meanwhile, imprisoned opposition leader and former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko was released Saturday after spending 2 1/2 years in prison.

Hours after her release, the 53-year-old Tymoshenko spoke to a crowd gathered at Independence Square.

"No one could do what you have done, eliminate a tumor," she said "A dictator is gone and you are the heroes, you are the best of Ukraine. But you may not leave here until you finish the job and we go all the way."

"And now every person in our country must get the kind of life that these people died for," she added, referring to the dozens of protesters killed over the past week by government forces. "I believe in Ukraine."

On Saturday, the Health Ministry said the death toll in clashes between protesters and police had reached 82. Earlier, as many as 100 were reported killed.

Earlier Saturday, the opposition took control of the presidential palace on the outskirts of Ukraine's capital as Yanukovych flew to his base in the east and scores of his top party leaders resigned.

Units from the western city of Lviv, a stronghold of the opposition, took over the palace after making their way to the capital despite halted train service. At the same time, protesters took over key sections of Kiev, including the entire government district of the capital. Some protesters were reportedly stopping cars in search of government officials.

The head of the president's Party of Regions, Volodymyr Rybak — an ally of the president — announced his resignation. Yanukovych said that decision followed an attack on Rybak. The deputy head of parliament, Igor Kaletnik, also resigned.

Meanwhile, parliament moved to take over government power and held a session to appoint new ministers while lawmakers from the Party of Regions continued to resign. Parliament also appointed opposition leader Oleksander Turchynov as speaker.

Analysts said the situation is one of confusion.

"I think there is panic and they are not sure how to proceed next," said Vitaly Chernetsky, president of the American Association for Ukrainian Studies in Cambridge, Mass. "There have been a number of members of the ruling party's coalition in the parliament who have left factions of the ruling party. There is now fractions and tensions, and it is still hard to predict which ways things are going unfortunately because of the severity of the crisis and the bloodshed.

"But Yanuchovych has horrified people strongly enough that even the more hard-line representatives of the ruling regime are now reconsidering their actions."

The Party of Regions initiated a meeting Saturday of deputies of all levels (city councils, regional councils) of the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine in the eastern city of Kharkiv, where Yanukovych flew to.

Protesters say they believe the party intends to initiate a split of Ukraine. Despite a deal reached Friday that granted a number of concessions to the opposition including early elections, many protesters vowed to press on until Yanukovych steps down.

"People absolutely will stand till Yanukovych leaves his position," said 18-year-old protester Anna Sydor. "He is the one responsible for what happened. After all the deaths, I can't see how people could bear him sitting in the president's chair. It's not possible."

"They thought that people would flee the square after they shot at us," she added. "And — surprise — we didn't. Instead, even more people are coming, and they are angry."

Opposition leaders, who were booed and heckled Friday at Independence Square after agreeing to the deal brokered by France, Germany and Poland, seem to realize the street is in no mood for compromise.

"Millions of Ukrainians see only one choice — early presidential and parliamentary elections," announced opposition leader Vitaly Klitschko in a tweet.

The hard-won deal had moved elections up by one year, granted parliament greater powers over the president and agreed to a coalition government including the opposition. Lawmakers on Friday also decriminalized sections of the penal code, paving the way for the release of Tymoshenko and granting amnesty to all protesters.

The protests broke out in November following Yanukovych's unwillingness to sign a trade deal with the European Union and instead accept financial help from Russia. The protests remained largely peaceful until January, when up to five were killed. But the violence escalated earlier this week after the president's forces attacked following a broken truce, leaving dozens dead.

The streets were calm Friday, but more reinforcements from opposition strongholds continued to arrive to assist protesters who say they still have work to do and remain determined that the president should leave office.

A group of 40 police officers who rebelled against the command and arrived from the west of the country stood in the square in full uniform, unarmed. They were greeted with chants "You will be heroes!" and "The police is with people!"

"We are here because we gave the oath to protect the people of Ukraine and we want to really follow the oath," said Major Oleh Kormyliuk, 35. "More officers are coming soon. Here we will be doing what we usually do — maintaining order."

Jabeen Bhatti reported from Berlin. Contributing: Luigi Serenelli from Berlin.