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ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION) Viktor Yanukovich, appearing in public for the first time since he was ousted as Ukraine's president, said in Russia on Friday (February 28) he would not give up the fight for his country's future. In the southern city of Rostov-on-Don he told reporters he had been forced from power by pro-Fascist forces and blamed the crisis on the West for "indulging" protesters seeking his ouster. "Nobody has ousted me, I was forced to leave Ukraine because my life and the lives of those dear to me were under threat," Yanukovich said. Speaking in Russian throughout he said lawlessness and chaos had followed an agreement he signed with his opponents last Friday (February 21), which was brokered by the European Union and was intended to end three months of crisis. He fled Kiev later that day.