Europeans left freezing and in the dark saw their hopes for an end to the Russia-Ukraine gas dispute sink after officials failed to reach a deal which would restore power to millions of homes.

Russian gas monopoly Gazprom said it cut all gas supplies to Ukraine today after talks broke down over payments for past shipments and a price for 2009.

An explosion tore through a block of flats in southern Ukraine, killing at least 17 people and leaving dozens more trapped under the rubble, emergency officials said today.

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.

Ukraine’s president Viktor Yushchenko has set a December 7 date for snap elections after dissolving parliament.

The speaker of the Ukrainian parliament has announced the collapse of the pro-Western governing coalition.

Ukraine's president called for a new governing coalition today and threatened fresh elections, accusing his rival prime minister and opposition parties of attempting a "constitutional coup".

After a four-year investigation Ukraine admitted today it does not have a single suspect for the attempted murder of President Viktor Yushchenko.

Russia may target nuclear missiles at Ukraine if the former Soviet republic joins Nato, President Vladimir Putin warned today.

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 energy minister is to hold urgent talks with Russia today after being threatened with a cut in gas supplies.

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.

UKRAINIAN President Viktor Yushchenko yesterday said he was taking command of Interior Ministry troops, but a ministry spokesman rejected the order in a move of defiance that escalated the country’s political turmoil.

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.

The uninhabited and contaminated region around the shuttered Chernobyl nuclear power plant must be put to use again, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said today on the eve of the 21st anniversary of the world’s worst-ever nuclear accident.

Thousands of opponents of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych blocked the entrances to Ukraine’s Constitutional Court this morning, delaying a second day of hearings into the legality of the president’s decree to dissolve parliament.

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

UKRAINE’S pro-Western president Viktor Yushch- enko held crisis talks last night with his prime minister, as a deepening power struggle between the two rivals brought thousands onto the streets in protest.

President Viktor Yushchenko has dissolved Ukraine’s parliament and called early elections.

Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko dissolved Ukraine’s parliament today and called early 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.

Ukrainian lawmakers today fired the foreign minister and interior minister, setting the stage for a legal battle between the president and the premier.

The European Union today dashed Ukraine's hopes for any quick membership in the bloc, saying that neither Ukraine nor the EU were ready for it to join.

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.

Ukrainian media today reported that the estranged Orange Revolution allies had reached a coalition agreement that will restoreYulia Tymoshenko as prime minister, ending nearly three months of political uncertainty.

Ukraine marked the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster today with pealing bells, candlelit ceremonies and parliamentary debates about how much the country still does not know – and how much it needs to do to bring relief to the millions affected by the world’s worst nuclear accident.

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.

Ukraine president Viktor Yushchenko’s party today increased the pressure on its leader to reunite the estranged Orange Team, passing a resolution that put potential deal-breaking restrictions on the pro-Moscow opposition leader.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko today criticised the slow pace of the vote count in the country’s parliamentary election, with no result after some 43 hours of counting, and warned of potential fraud.

Pressure today grew on Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko to revive the divided Orange Revolution team as election returns showed combined support for their pro-Western reformist parties outpacing that of the pro-Russian opposition leader.

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.

Ukrainians voted in a parliamentary election today 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-Russian opposition leader Viktor Yanukovcyh today accused Ukraine’s president of deceiving the nation to seize power during the 2004 Orange Revolution mass demonstrations.

Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko says his country should produce its own nuclear fuel, part of an effort to reduce its reliance on Russia for energy following a bitter dispute over natural gas prices.

UKRAINE president Viktor Yushchenko warned that the sacking of his pro-Western government by lawmakers over a controversial gas deal with Russia would destabilise the country less than three months before a key parliamentary election.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko today accused his nation’s parliament of destabilising the political situation there .

Ukraine today vehemently denied the existence of secret prisons allegedly run by the US Central Intelligence Agency on Ukrainian soil.