Ukraine PM stays on, files challenge

‘‘Today, the main thing for us to do is, through all legal means, to uphold our choice, Ukraine’s choice in the Central Election Commission and the Supreme Court,’’ Yanukovich told a news conference. ‘‘It is my firm position that I have no intention of resigning. They are insisting on this because, before as now, they are quaking in their shoes. We will soon say what we have to say.’’

He bluntly told reporters that he did not have to explain why he did not attend Wednesday’s cabinet meeting, moved elsewhere without him attending. “I am not obliged to account to you where I was or was not at any given moment,” he said.

Yanukovich’s team has submitted challenges through Ukraine’s election commission and the Supreme Court. The premier dismissed President Leonid Kuchma’s suggestion that the election loser should concede within two days of polling.

Kuchma, meanwhile, sacked his deputy prime minister responsible for energy, Andriy Klyuev, on Wednesday for refusing to resignfrom his post.