After a turbulent week in which Ukraine has seen its deadliest violence in decades, parliament has voted to oust President Viktor Yanukovych, who has denounced its actions as a coup.
Within the space of three days, at least 77 people were killed and hundreds more wounded as anti-government protesters clashed with riot police. Many of the victims were shot.
The BBC looks back at the key moments leading up to the crisis:
February 2014
A protester in Independence Square cheers news that parliament has ousted President Yanukovych (22 Feb)
23 February: Parliament names speaker Oleksander Turchynov as interim president. Mr Turchynov, a close associate of freed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, tells MPs they have until Tuesday to form a new unity government. Meanwhile, the whereabouts of President Yanukovych remain unclear.
22 February: Events move quickly as protesters take control of presidential administration buildings without resistance and opposition leaders call for elections on 25 May. President Yanukovych is nowhere to be seen and reports emerge that he has left for Kharkiv in the north-east. Parliament votes to remove him from power with elections set for 25 May. Mr Yanukovych appears on TV to insist he was lawfully-elected president, and denounces a "coup d'etat". His arch-rival, opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko who was jailed for seven years in 2011, is freed and travels from Kharkiv to Kiev.
21 February: President Yanukovych signs a compromise deal with opposition leaders, envisaging a new national unity government, constitutional changes to hand powers back to parliament and early elections, to be held by December. The deal was brokered by the foreign ministers of France, Germany and Poland. Sporadic violence continues and in western Ukraine protesters occupying government buildings remain defiant, refusing to recognise the Kiev authorities.
Independence Square was a very different picture on 20 February with scenes of devastation
20 February: A truce agreed the previous day is short-lived. Central Kiev sees the worst violence yet, and the death toll in 48 hours of clashes rises to at least 77. Hundreds more are wounded. Video shows uniformed snipers firing at protesters holding makeshift shields. Witnesses report demonstrators dying from single gunshot wounds. Three European Union foreign ministers fly in to try to broker a deal; Russia announces it is sending an envoy.
18 February: At least 18 people, including seven policemen, are killed. Protesters take back control of Kiev's city hall. Riot police encircle Independence Square, where some 25,000 protesters remain.
16 February: Protesters evacuate Kiev city hall after occupying the building since 1 December, along with other public buildings in the regions. A day later, arrested protesters are granted amnesty.
14 February: All 234 protesters who have been arrested since December are released but charges against them remain.
January 2014
29 January: Parliament passes an amnesty bill promising to drop charges against all those arrested during the unrest, if protesters leave government buildings. The opposition rejects its conditions.
28 January: As pressure mounts, Ukraine's Prime Minister Mykola Azarov resigns and parliament annuls the anti-protest law.
24 January: Protestors begin storming regional government offices in Western Ukraine.
22 January: The unrest turns deadly for the first time as two people die from gunshot wounds after clashes with police. The body of a high-profile activist, Yuriy Verbytsky, is found the next day in a forest after he was reportedly abducted earlier in the week.
16 January: Ukraine's parliament passes restrictive anti-protest laws, which opponents call "draconian".
December 2013
A huge protest took place on 8 December
17 December: After talks with President Viktor Yanukovych, Russian President Vladimir Putin throws Ukraine an economic lifeline, agreeing to buy $15bn of Ukrainian debt and to reduce the price of Russian gas supplies to Ukraine by about a third.
14 December: Rival pro-government protests are held in Kiev's Independence Square, but with far fewer numbers. A thin line of riot police separates the two sides.
8 December: The largest demonstration yet sees 800,000 people attend a protest in Kiev.
1 December: Protesters occupy Kiev city hall and Independence Square in dramatic style. They turn the square into a tent city.
November 2013
30 November: Police launch their first raid on protesters, arresting 35. Images of injured demonstrators spread quickly in the media, raising the international profile of the protests.
24 November: Protests gather pace, with 100,000 people attending a demonstration in Kiev. It is the largest protest in Ukraine since the Orange Revolution in 2004.
21 November: President Yanukovych's cabinet announces that it is abandoning an agreement that would strengthen trade ties with the EU, and will instead seek closer co-operation with Russia. Ukrainian MPs also reject a bill that would have allowed jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko to leave the country. Protests begin that same night, with only several hundred present at first, but already comparisons with the Orange Revolution begin.
President Viktor Yanukovych (L) is seen as Russia's man
2010
February: Viktor Yanukovych is declared the winner in the presidential election. His main rival, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, refuses to accept the result, alleging fraud. She is arrested soon afterwards on what she calls politically motivated charges.
2004
December: Opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko tops poll in election re-run. Rival candidate Viktor Yanukovych challenges result but resigns as prime minister.
November: The Orange Revolution - an official count claims that pro-Russian candidate Viktor Yanukovych has won the presidential election, but Western and other independent observers report widespread vote rigging. Opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko launches campaign of mass street protests and civil disobedience, with the colour orange adopted as a symbol by the protesters. The Supreme Court annuls result of poll.
1991
August: Ukrainian parliament declares independence from the USSR following an attempted coup in Moscow. 90% vote for independence in a nationwide referendum in December.
From BEN Latest News: www.benlatestnews.com
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