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Viktor Yanukovich still considers himself the legitimate leader of Ukraine and warns against an internal military conflict, according to a statement. He also asks Russia to ensure his safety against the actions of "extremists" that took power in Ukraine.

"On the streets of many cities of our country, extremism thrives. Threats of bodily harm are thrown at me and my collaborators. I'm forced to ask the Russian authorities to ensure my personal security against the actions of extremists," Yanukovich said.

The southeast of the country and the Crimea don't acknowledge the mayhem in Ukraine under which "leaders are chosen by the crowd," news agencies quote his statement.

Yanukovich also said that he hadn't ordered the Ukrainian army to interfere in the internal political events, and he doesn't order it now, the statement reads.

"If someone gave such orders to the armed or security forces, these orders would be illegitimate, criminal," Yanukovich stated.

However, the leader of the Batkivshina (Fatherland) party, Arseny Yatsenyuk, has said that Yanukovich is no longer the country's president and that he has been put on an international wanted list.

Yanukovich's former Interior Minister, Vitaly Zakharchenko, has also been put on an international wanted list.

On Sunday the new parliament voted to appoint its freshly-elected Speaker Aleksandr Turchinov as acting president of Ukraine.

The new regime immediately voted to strip Yanukovich of his powers, capitalizing on his absence from the capital, and voted for snap elections which are to be held on May 25.

A day later, on Monday, Rada put President Yanukovich on the wanted list on suspicion of involvement in mass killings during the riots in Kiev.

Ousted President Viktor Yanukovich, whose whereabouts remain unknown, earlier decried the decisions of the interim government as "illegal" and said the unrest in the Ukrainian capital bears all the hallmarks of a coup d'état.

On Tuesday the Ukrainian parliament Verkhovna Rada voted in favor of fugitive President Yanukovich being tried in the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for alleged "crimes against humanity during the recent peaceful protests."