KARL MARX famously remarked that major historical events occur twice — the “first time as tragedy, then as farce”.

Anti-government protesters in Ukraine are claiming victory after riot police backed down from a showdown in Kiev’s main square.

Hundreds of police have stormed a protest camp in the Ukrainian capital, clashing with protesters as they tried to dismantle barricades.

Ukraine’s embattled president Viktor Yanukovych has promised that some demonstrators arrested in the massive protests sweeping the capital will be released, part of a bid to defuse a political stand-off that is threatening his leadership.

Top Western diplomats headed to Kiev today to try to defuse a stand-off between Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s government and thousands of demonstrators, following a night in which police in riot gear dismantled protesters’ encampments outside government buildings.

Hundreds of thousands of protesters poured into the streets of Ukraine’s capital yesterday, toppling a statue of former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin and blockading key government buildings in an escalating stand-off with the president over the future of the country.

Around 10,000 demonstrators in the Ukrainian capital have demanded the signing of an association agreement with the European Union – even though their country’s president has shelved plans for it.

Thousands of protesters poured into Kiev’s Independence Square last night, the centre of Ukraine’s pro-West Orange Revolution, to demand that the government reverse course and sign a landmark agreement with the European Union.

Ukraine's jailing of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was a politically motivated violation of her rights, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled.

Organisers of protests in more than three dozen cities around the world are hoping thousands will turn out in raucous support of Pussy Riot, the Russian punk band convicted of hooliganism in Moscow.

A beautiful white tiger that became a symbol of Yulia Tymoshenko’s Ukraine presidential campaign has returned to the spotlight by giving birth to four cubs, including a rare albino one.

Yulia Tymoshenko, the braided darling of Ukraine’s Orange Revolution who went on to be prime minister, is wasting away in prison – weakened from a hunger strike, bruised from prison beatings and afraid she will be force-fed by her political foes, her family said.

Ukraine is becoming a dangerous mix of authoritarianism and corrupt capitalism, writes Tatiana Zhurzhenko

Ukraine’s former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has gone on trial in a case that has raised concerns in the West over the government’s commitment to democracy and the rule of law.

UKRAINIAN Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s pro-Western Orange coalition fell apart yesterday paving the way for the country’s new president to consolidate his power.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's pro-Western "Orange" coalition fell apart today paving the way for the country's new president to consolidate his power.

OPPOSITION leader Viktor Yanukovych emerged as the apparent winner in Ukraine’s presidential contest yesterday, holding onto a lead of almost 3% with about 99% of ballots counted.

Pro-Russian opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych declared victory in Ukraine’s presidential run-off today, but his opponent rejected the claim, saying the vote was too close to call.

The arch-enemy of Ukraine's pro-democracy movement won a first-place finish in the initial round of presidential voting, setting him up for a showdown with the heroine of the 2004 Orange Revolution, exit polls showed.

DISAPPOINTED with the failures of the Orange Revolution, Ukraine was yesterday poised to hand the pro-Russia Viktor Yanukovich a comeback in presidential polls at the expense of his West-leaning rivals.

CONSUMERS have yet to feel the impact from the row over gas supplies between Ukraine and Russia, but this could change if the cold weather continues, according to EU officials.

UKRAINIAN president Viktor Yushchenko yesterday called early general elections after dissolving parliament when parties failed to resurrect a ruling pro-western coalition in the former Soviet state.

Tens of thousands of people braved heavy rain and thunder tonight to see Paul McCartney perform a charity concert in Kiev's central Independence Square.

Ukraine’s president today called for coalition talks between the five parties elected to parliament, a measure of the continuing uncertainty over the outcome of Sunday’s ballot.

Ukraine's Orange Revolution allies made a strong showing in parliamentary elections and looked poised to win a majority that could steer the country more firmly on to a pro-Western course, an exit poll showed.

AN INDEPENDENT exit poll indicated Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych’s party was leading in yesterday’s parliamentary elections by a slim margin — ahead of the bloc led by Yulia Tymoshenko.

Ukrainians began voting today in an early parliamentary election meant to bring an end to a months-long political stand off between the nation’s two feuding leaders.

Ukraine’s feuding president and prime minister today agreed on a date for an early parliamentary election.

MPs supporting Ukraine's Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych asked the Constitutional Court today to consider the legality of the president's latest decree dissolving parliament and calling early elections, the court said.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych has refused to accept a presidential order to hold early parliamentary elections.

Politicians who supported President Viktor Yushchenko during the Orange Revolution appealed to Ukrainians to return to Kiev’s Independence Square today for a rally.

Detectives in the UK investigating the death of ex-KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko were tonight planning to fly to Moscow in their hunt for clues into the dissident’s poisoning, sources have confirmed.

President Viktor Yushchenko signed a memorandum of national unity today with his former Orange Revolution foe, Viktor Yanukovych – a pact the president hopes will secure his pro-Western, reformist policies when his ex-foe becomes prime minister.

Ukraine’s pro-Russian parliamentary majority warned President Viktor Yushchenko today against dissolving parliament and calling new elections, threatening that the move could trigger a battle for power in this ex-Soviet republic.

UKRAINE’S main opposition party joined together with two other groups in parliament to propose defeated presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovich as prime minister.

Former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko announced in Ukraine’s parliament that a coalition of Orange Revolution allies had formed a new government.

President Viktor Yushchenko’s party has reportedly given its backing to a restoration of the Orange Revolution team, calling for a coalition to be formed with its estranged ally, Yulia Tymoshenko, and the Socialists, Ukrainian media reported today.

UKRAINIANS voted in a parliamentary election yesterday that could tip the divided ex-Soviet republic back toward Russia just 16 months after the Orange Revolution protests helped set it on a Westward course.

Pro-Moscow opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych tonight declared his party the winner of Ukraine’s parliamentary election.

Pro-Russian opposition leader Viktor Yanukovcyh today accused Ukraine’s president of deceiving the nation to seize power during the 2004 Orange Revolution mass demonstrations.

Thousands of Belarusians demonstrated in a central Minsk square for the third night in a row tonight, swelling the ranks of a core group who spent the previous night there to protest at the extension of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko’s rule.

Thousands of Georgians jammed the main streets and squares of the capital Tbilisi today to mark the second anniversary of the Rose Revolution protests that drove out the country’s longtime leader and brought Mikhail Saakashvili to office.

CROWDS of Ukrainians waving orange flags descended on Kiev’s main square yesterday for anniversary celebrations marking the start of the Orange Revolution.

Tens of thousands of Ukrainians flooded Kiev’s main square today to mark the first anniversary of the Orange Revolution with rock music, vodka toasts and fiery speeches.