From VOA Learning English, this is In The News.

One week has passed since lawmakers in Ukraine voted to 

oust Viktor Yanukovych as president. Mr. Yanukovych told a press

 conference on Friday that he was forced to leave Ukraine, 

but denied being ousted. “Nobody has overthrown me,” he said. 

“I was compelled to leave Ukraine due to a direct threat to my life”

. Mr. Yanukovych spoke in Russian to reporters in the Russian city 

of Rostov-on-Don. He announced plans to return and fight for his country. 

He said he wants to fight for Ukraine’s future against

 those who took control of the country through terror and fear.

Also on Friday, Ukraine’s new government accused Russian forces

 of carrying out a "military invasion and occupation"

 at two airports. Interior Minister Arsen Avakov wrote on

 his Facebook page that armed men were blocking the Belbek airport

 in the Crimean port of Sevastopol.

 Russia has a naval base in the area.

Unidentified men were also guarding the internationa

l airport in Simferopol, the Crimean capital. As of late Friday,

 the airport was still open. But all of the activity has some people

 concerned about their well-being.

Those guarding the airport appeared a day after unidentified

 gunmen took control of government buildings in Crimea.

The crisis began a week ago when Ukraine’s parliament 

voted to oust President Yanukovych.

 The vote followed three months of street protests.

  The demonstrations began in November after

 the president backed out of a trade deal with the European Union.

 His move was seen as an effort to strengthen relations with

 Russia instead of getting closer to Europe.

 The protests were peaceful at first, but then turned violent. 

More than 75 people were reported killed in the week before the president 

was ousted.

Parliament wasted no time in replacing Mr. Yanukovych. Lawmakers

 elected parliamentary speaker Oleksandr Turchynov as the country’s

 acting leader.

 He immediately announced plans to form a new government. 

Mr. Turchynov said 

it would lead the country until new presidential elections in May.

Valerii Pekar is a Ukrainian researcher and political commentator.

 He said the events of the past week are Ukraine’s final break with its recent past.

“We call it a government of national trust because it’s a transitional government,

 which will keep the country alive during preparation of the free,

 transparent elections, which we need.”

This week, Mr. Turchynov accused the former government of stealing 

billions of dollars from the state treasury.

 On Friday, Switzerland ordered

 restrictions on any money in Swiss banks that belongs to Mr. Yanukovych 

and the people traveling with him. 

The Swiss government wants to avoid the stealing of money that belongs to the Ukrainian public.

 Austria also said it was freezing the bank accounts of 18 Ukrainians after being asked

 to do so by Ukraine’s new government.

And that’s In the News from VOA Learning English.

 I’m Steve Ember.