Ukraine started moves on Friday to seek Viktor Yanukovich's extradition from Russia after the ousted president appeared in southern Russia, the prosecutor general's office said.
Yanukovich is wanted in Ukraine for mass murder following the deaths of about 100 people in clashes with police and security forces during three months of protests.
This comes as Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich said he had not ordered police to shoot at protesters before he was forced out of power and the responsibility for bloodshed in Kiev lay with the demonstrators.
At a news conference in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, Yanukovich also said he was surprised that Russian president Vladimir Putin had said nothing in public about the past week's events in Ukraine. He said he had not seen Putin but had spoken to him by telephone during that time.
Asked about his arch-rival, former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who was released from jail last Saturday, Yanukovich said he had never meant her any harm.
Viktor Yanukovich, appearing in public for the first time since he was ousted as Ukraine's president, said he would not give up the fight for his country's future.
He also told reporters he had been forced from power by pro-Fascist forces and blamed the crisis on the West for "indulging" protesters seeking his ouster.
He said lawlessness and chaos had followed an agreement he signed with his opponents last Friday, which was brokered by the European Union and was intended to end three months of crisis. He fled Kiev later that day.
This comes after Ukraine's Prosecutor General ordered the detention of 10 top former government, security and military officials on suspicion of mass murder in the capital Kiev.
The list, issued on the prosecutor general's website, includes former Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka, former Interior Minister Valery Zakharchenko, ousted president Viktor Yanukovich's administration chief Andry Klyuev and former Justice Minister Olena Lukash.
The general prosecutor's office also said Ukraine will ask Russia to extradite ousted President Viktor Yanukovich if it is confirmed that he is in Russia.
"Ukraine's Prosecutor-General intends to raise the issue of the extradition of the internationally wanted citizen of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovich in case it is officially confirmed that he is in the Russian Federation," it said in a statement.
As well, the Swiss government ordered the freezing of the assets of 20 Ukrainians, including ousted president Viktor Yanukovich and his son Oleksander, Switzerland's financial markets authority FINMA said in a statement on Friday.
FINMA said the Swiss government had made the decision to block the assets on Wednesday and the measures would come into force on Friday at noon.
This as, a Swiss prosecutor has opened a money laundering investigation into ousted Ukrainian president Yanukovich and his son Oleksander, the prosecutor's office in Geneva said in a statement.
"A penal investigation for severe money laundering is currently being conducted in Geneva against Viktor Yanukovich and his son Oleksander," the prosecutor's office said in the statement, adding it had opened the probe on Thursday.
It said prosecutor Yves Bertossa and the police had searched the office of a company owned by Oleksander Yanukovich on Thursday morning and seized some documents.
On another note, Ukraine's acting president has signed a decree dismissing the head of the armed forces general staff, his office said on Friday.
Admiral Yuriy Ilyin had been appointed at the height of protests against President Viktor Yanukovich, who was ousted last Saturday. No reason was given for his dismissal in a brief statement on the presidential website.
Ukraine's parliament on Friday asked the U.N. Security Council to call a session to discuss the crisis in the country.
It said it was appealing to the Security Council to call a session to consider the problems in Ukraine in the light of a 1993 understanding in which the big powers agreed to guarantee the territorial integrity of the country.
Ukraine's parliament also urged Moscow to cease any moves that could undermine the country's territorial integrity after armed men took control of two airports in the Crimea region.
This comes as Ukraine's acting president called an emergency session of security chiefs to discuss events in Crimea and accused Russian forces of being involved in an "escalation" of events on the Black Sea peninsula.
Russia's Black Sea fleet, which has a base in Crimea, has denied being involved in the seizure of a military airport in Crimea.
Armed men extend control at military airport in Ukraine's Crimea:
The international airport in Simferopol, the main city in Ukraine's Crimea region, is not allowing flights from the national capital Kiev following the airport's takeover by armed men, Interfax news agency reported on Friday.
The report could not immediately be confirmed. Contacted by telephone, an airport information official said only one flight from Kiev had been delayed but other flights had been coming and going from Simferopol without any problems.
Earlier, armed men have extended their control at a military airport in Ukraine's Crimea region by taking over the runway, Interfax news agency quoted a military source as saying.
"Around 400 people are in the airport of Belbek now. They have occupied runway and all plane movements have been stopped," the news agency quoted the source as saying.
The armed groups moved into Belbek, the biggest military airport in Crimea, early on Friday but had largely been guarding the perimeter.
Russia's Black Sea fleet has a base in nearby Sevastopol but Moscow denies its forces seized the airport.
Three European states freeze Ukraine ex-leaders' assets:
Switzerland, Austria and Liechtenstein on Friday moved to freeze assets and bank accounts of up to 20 Ukrainians including ousted president Viktor Yanukovich and his son, after Ukraine's new rulers said billions had gone missing.
The measures were announced as the crisis in Ukraine worsened, with armed men taking control of two airports in Crimea in what Ukraine's new government described as an invasion and occupation by Russian forces, although Moscow denied involvement.
The three countries did not say how much money was affected by the asset freezes. The European Union agreed to similar measures last week but they have yet to come into force.
Local reactions:
Ukraine hopes to begin receiving international financial aid soon and is determined to fulfill conditions needed to secure support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said on Friday.
An IMF mission is due in Kiev next week for talks with Ukraine's new leaders, who have said the heavily indebted country needs at least $35 billion to stave off the bankruptcy.
Yatseniuk told reporters that "clear steps" to provide Ukraine with financial aid are now being prepared. He said he hoped infusions of aid would begin in the "near future" and said the government would call on the central bank to begin a large-sale lending program once the situation is stabilized.
International reactions:
The White House urged Russia to respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine on Friday, saying any intervention would be a grave mistake.
White House spokesman Jay Carney's comment came as reports surfaced of armed men having taken control of two airports in the Crimea region in what the new Ukrainian leadership called an invasion.
Carney said U.S. officials are seeking clarification on the origin of the armed men.
"Intervention would be a grave mistake," he said.
For her part, German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed her concern about a destabilization of Ukraine in a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, stressing any steps that might lead to an escalation of the crisis must be avoided, her office said.
"She also urged restraint over Crimea," her spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement.
The Kremlin said in an earlier statement that Putin had said there must be no further escalation of violence in Ukraine in phone calls with Merkel as well as with British Prime Minister David Cameron and the president of the European Council.
Ukraine's interim government said on Friday that Russian forces had seized control of two airports in the Crimean peninsula, the last major bastion of resistance to the toppling of Moscow-backed leader Viktor Yanukovich.
Merkel on Friday also called Ukraine's new Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk to pledge her support.
In turn, British Prime Minister David Cameron told President Vladimir Putin that Russia must respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
Cameron called Putin by telephone to discuss the escalating tension in Ukraine's Crimea region, a Downing Street spokesman said.
"The Prime Minister emphasized that all countries should respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. President Putin agreed, stressing that Russian military exercises in the area had been planned before the current situation in Ukraine," the spokesman said.
"They agreed that the free and fair elections that the interim government has pledged to hold are the best way to secure a positive future for Ukraine."
This comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered government to continue talks with Ukraine on economic and trade relations and to consult foreign partners including the IMF and the G8 on financial aid, a statement on the Kremlin website said.
The statement also said Putin had ordered his government to consider a request from Ukraine's southern region of Crimea for humanitarian aid.
This as France, Germany and Poland said on Friday that they were "very worried" by events in Crimea and urged all parties to refrain from any action endangering Ukraine's territorial integrity.
In a joint statement by their foreign ministries, the three countries said that Ukraine's crisis could only be solved in a lasting manner if all political forces subscribed to that goal.
"We are very worried by the unstable situation in Crimea," the ministries said in the statement distributed in Paris by the French foreign ministry. "Everything must be done to reduce tension in the eastern region and encourage all parties concerned to talk.
"We reaffirm our support for the territorial integrity of the country and we urge all parties in Ukraine to refrain from any action that could endanger it."
In turn, the European Commission called for a political solution to tensions in the Ukrainian region of Crimea and urged all sides to show restraint.
"The situation in Crimea will require a political solution and this can only be achieved via dialogue amongst the different parties involved," a Commission spokesman said.
REUTERS
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