Ukraine Parliament Calls for ICC to Prosecute Yanukovych, Klitschko to Run for Presidency

Ukraine's parliament on Tuesday called on the International Criminal Court in the Hague to prosecute ousted president Viktor Yanukovych over the "mass murder" of protesters in Kiev.

"We appeal to the International Criminal Court...to bring to justice Viktor Yanukovych and other high-ranking figures who gave and carried out criminal orders," the parliament said in a statement.

Meanwhile, boxer-turned-lawmaker Vitali Klitschko announced also on Tuesday that he will be running for presidency.

A former heavyweight boxing world champion, the towering Klitschko turned his back on the ring to become one of Ukraine's most popular opposition leaders during months of anti-government protests.

On ground, two armored personnel carriers were deployed near Russian military installations in Ukraine's second port of Sevastopol, an Agence France Presse journalist said Tuesday, as hundreds of protesters rallied in the city.

One of the vehicles was visible on a base belonging to Russia's Black Sea fleet -- stationed in the pro-Moscow autonomous Crimea region for some 200 years -- while another was parked in the courtyard of a building rented by the Russian navy in the city center, the journalist said.

The appearance of the vehicles came as Ukraine's interim leader warned of "dangerous signs of separatism" amid fears that Ukraine's pro-Moscow regions could push for partition following the weekend ousting of Kremlin-backed Yanukovych.

Western countries have warned the Kremlin not to interfere with Ukraine's territorial integrity and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov toned down strident rhetoric from Moscow on Tuesday by saying it was sticking to a policy of "non-interference".

A spokesman for the fleet in Sevastopol questioned by AFP refused to comment on the deployment of the vehicles but local media reported that they had been sent out in case of "terrorist attacks".

Meanwhile some 500 pro-Russia demonstrators gathered in the city center to try to force through the nomination of Alexei Chaly, a Russian citizen, as mayor.

"We are peaceful protesters -- for now," demonstrator Alexander Siniavsky said.

On Sunday, some 10,000 people gathered in Sevastopol brandishing banners calling for Russia to intervene and denouncing the political upheaval in Kiev as a putsch by "fascists".

The avalanche of change in the deeply divided former Soviet state came after scores of demonstrators were killed when three months of anti-Yanukovych protests exploded into violence last week.

The demonstrations were sparked in November by Yanukovych's decision to spurn a historic pact with the EU in favor of closer ties with old master Russia, and grew into a titanic diplomatic tug-of-war over Ukraine's future direction.

While the protests drew widespread support among the country's Western-leaning Ukrainian-speaking populations, they stirred disquiet and hostility for some in the Russophone eastern regions.