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Angry: Ukrainian prime minister Arseny Yatseniuk today resigned after berating parliament for failing to pass legislation to take control of the energy sector

Ukraine’s prime minister today resigned after berating parliament for failing to pass legislation to take control of the energy sector.

Arseny Yatseniuk, who was elected following the 2014 revolution that removed Viktor Yanukovych from power, also criticised politicans for not passing a law increasing the Army’s financing.

His resignation came as two parties quit a parliamentary coalition – a move that paved the way for for long-awaited early legislative elections.

Despite his usual mild-mannered nature, Yatseniuk today bellowed at politicians who had failed
to pass a law to allow a liberalisation of control over Ukraine’s
pipeline system.

He told them they were at risk of losing the hearts and minds
of the thousands who protested for months in the ‘Maidan’ protests in
favour of joining Europe and against a pro-Moscow president.

Addressing parliament in Kyiv, he said: ‘History will not forgive us.’

Referring to those killed during the protests, he added: ‘Millions
of people made this revolution.

‘We did not take the European choice but
the “heavenly hundred” and thousands of other Ukrainians did.’

Yatseniuk’s resignation could leave a
hole at the heart of decision-making at a time when Ukraine is both struggling to fund a
war with pro-Russian rebels in its east and dealing with the aftermath
of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crash that killed 298 people.

Yatseniuk, who has been central to talks with the European Union and the United States, cannot leave office immediately, political analysts said, because he is obliged to oversee his duties before a new prime minister and government are installed.

Address: Yatseniuk, who was elected in the revolution that removed Yanukovych from power, also criticised politicans for not passing a law increasing the Army’s financing. Above, he addresses parliament in Kyiv

Impassioned: He told the politicians: ‘History will not forgive us. Millions of people made this revolution’

But his
impassioned speech underlined the frustration of many in Ukraine that
change in the higher echelons of power was taking too much time.

The
mood has also sunk in Kyiv following the downing of MH17 in rebel-held
territory in eastern Ukraine last week, even though Ukrainian forces are
making headway in the military campaign against the separatists.

Earlier today, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko welcomed the decision by the nationalist party Svoboda and the Udar (Punch) party of former boxing champion Vitaly Klitschko to withdraw from the majority coalition in parliament.

Leaving: Arseny Yatseniuk is pictured leaving the stand after addressing the Ukrainian parliament in Kyiv

‘Society
wants a full reset of state authorities,’ Poroshenko said in a
statement, adding the move showed that those who decided to quit the
coalition were following the will of the people.

Politicians
and political activists have complained that while Ukraine has a new
president, it has yet to elect a new parliament since the toppling of
Viktor Yanukovich in February, and accuse his supporters of hampering
its work.

Yatseniuk said that by blocking legislation, like a bill to exert tighter control over the energy sector in the face of dwindling natural gas supplies from Russia, the parliament was putting Ukraine’s future at risk.

Disaster: Ukraine is currently dealing with the aftermath of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crash that killed 298 people. Above, a convoy of hearses carries MH17 victims to military barracks in Hilversum, Holland, today

By not tackling budget spending, it was also putting the lives of Ukraine’s soldiers at risk, he said.

‘Our government now has no answer to the question; how are we to pay wages, how are we tomorrow morning going to send fuel for armoured vehicles, how will we pay those families who have lost soldiers, to look after the army?’ he asked parliament.

‘Those people who are sitting there under fire, can we just think of them?’

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