Viktor Yanukovych took the oath of office as Ukraine’s president at a ceremony in parliament in the capital Kyiv on February 25 2010.
 
Several foreign dignitaries attended the ceremony but Yanukovych’s rival, prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, boycotted proceedings, media report said.
 
Even though both rounds of the presidential elections that produced Yanukovych’s victory got the stamp of approval of international observers, Tymoshenko alleged fraud, lodging court action against the February 7 second round but then withdrawing it.
 
She continues to insist that she will not recognise Yanukovych as president and says that she will not step down as prime minister, in spite of calls by Yanukovych’s Party of the Regions that she do so.
 
Yanukovych (59) received a blessing from Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia at the Kyiv Laura of the Caves ahead of the official inauguration ceremony, Interfax reported from the Ukrainian capital.
 
"May God bless you in your accession to power," Kirill was quoted as telling Yanukovych.
 
Tymoshenko described Yanukovch on February 22 as a pawn of oligarchs who will establish an anti-Ukrainian, anti-European dictatorship. 
 
Speaking at a Cabinet meeting on February 24, she called for the current coalition in parliament to stand firm and expressed doubt that Yanukovych's party had enough support for a vote of no confidence in her government, the Voice of America said.
 
Tymoshenko said that she was convinced that coalition leaders would under no circumstances betray their ideologies and convictions and will not enter into a coalition with Yanukovych’s party.
 
The party's deputy head, Hanna Herman, told Ukraine's Channel Five television network that a motion will be tabled in parliament next week to dismiss the Tymoshenko government.
 
Herman said that a new government and prime minister would be appointed after the motion was approved.
 
The Party of the Regions issued a statement saying that. Tymoshenko's national television address on February 22 demonstrated that she had not even the slightest understanding of democracy. 
 
The party statement said that her persistent opposition to Yanukovych was undermining faith in the electoral process, international election monitors, and the courts. 
 
Meanwhile, the blessing of Yanukovych by Kirill has caused controversy.
 
Independent political analyst Vitaliy Bala told VOA that Kirill's decision to bless Yanukovych's presidency was a highly sensitive issue in Ukraine.
 
Bala says this could be a strategic mistake on the part of the Church. Tactically, he says it will try to gain a short-term advantage, but strategically, the move will is likely to mobilise Yanukovych opponents. He noted that Yanukovych had won with a plurality of votes and was strongly opposed in regions associated with non-Russian churches.
 
Analysts say that Yanukovych’s apparent choice of Brussels, not Moscow, as his first foreign destination as president may signal he wants closer relations with Europe and will not draw as close to Russia as many expect.