Yushchenko sacks all his ministers in sleaze purge

In the country's biggest upheaval since the Orange Revolution, the president declared that his administration had lost its "team spirit".

Among those dismissed are the charismatic prime minister Julia Tymoshenko who, together with Mr Yushchenko, formed a double act that led December's pro-democracy revolution.

"We need to halt the disappointment in society and make sure that the ideals [of the democracy revolution] are not cast into doubt," said the president.

A new caretaker prime minister, provincial governor Yury Yekhanurov, has been appointed to form a new cabinet.

Mr Yushchenko's move is the climax of nearly a week of accusation and counter-accusation among senior cabinet figures that began on Saturday with the resignation of his chief of staff, Oleksander Zinchenko.

Mr Zinchenko went public with allegations of impropriety against two of Mr Yushchenko's top men.

He accused the security and defence council chief Petro Poroshenko, who is godfather to one of Mr Yushchenko's children, of staffing key bodies with political cronies.

He also said that Mr Yushchenko's first adviser, Oleksander Tretyakov, had a conflict of interest after joining the boards of a bank and a telecoms giant. Mr Poroshenko hit back, denying any improper action.

On Wednesday parliament opened to a withering attack on the presidency by the speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn, who accused Mr Yushchenko of manipulating statistics to disguise economic stagnation.

Yet it appears that political rivalry, rather than corruption allegations, provoked yesterday's crisis.

Mr Poroshenko and Ms Tymoshenko have been jostling for power for many months, both keen to have executive power as Mr Yushchenko contents himself with a more hands-off role.

Ms Tymoshenko accused her rival of improper conduct after he began talks with Russia over gas prices.

Parliamentarians, meanwhile, began to agitate about Mr Poroshenko's joint role as both an MP and minister, saying he should choose just one.

On Wednesday night Mr Yushchenko apparently made a last-ditch effort to bring his two executives together, holding late-night talks with them at the presidency.

The talks failed, and early yesterday Mr Poroshenko announced his resignation from government.

The deputy prime minister Mykola Tomenko also quit, saying top-level corruption had become intolerable. "I have realised that some people steal and others resign," he said.

Minutes later, the president sacked the rest of the government.

Yet the stain of corruption is also lapping at Mr Yushchenko's heels.

The Kiev media is full of allegations that his son, Anedry, 19, has profited from his father's position, driving a smart car, enjoying a luxurious lifestyle and even taking a patent on the slogan of the Orange Revolution - Tak, or Yes.

Ordinary Ukrainians are bewildered that someone could benefit from a patent on such a word, and also that anyone would seek to make money from a slogan regarded as public property.

Such revelations are particularly damaging to Mr Yushchenko: politicians are expected to haul a certain length of gravy train into office, especially in this part of the world, but Mr Yushchenko's success last year was based on a claim to be scrupulously honest. Anything less is likely to damage the main plank of his appeal.

The present crisis is light years away from the wave of public support that saw Mr Yushchenko propelled to power.

Just seven months ago more than a million protesters blocked Kiev and other cities, forcing the former government to cancel rigged elections and hold new ones, which Mr Yushchenko easily won.

At the time, Mr Yushchenko promised a "clean" government to replace the notorious corruption of the previous regime of Leonid Kuchma.