President Joesjtsjenko stuurt kabinet weg (en)

Ukraine's president has sacked the whole of his 7-month-old government amid allegations of bribery and corruption among its members.

Viktor Yushchenko on Thursday (8 September) made the move after saying that the infighting in the government was damaging the economy and the government as a whole.

"I have to make those decisive radical steps, because the ideals of the revolution cannot be under any doubt,'' Mr Yushchenko said on public television in Kiev today, according to news agencies. "The team was disintegrating".

Those sacked include the hugely popular prime minister and former businesswoman, Yulia Tymoschenko.

Yuriy Yekhanurov, a member of parliament, was appointed as acting prime minister and has been asked to form a new cabinet.

Orange revolution

Mr Yushchenko came to power in December on the back of the 'orange revolution' when Ukrainians took to the streets in their droves to protest an election in November, which they said was rigged - something which the US and EU also strongly backed up.

Very soon after he came into power, Mr Yushchenko made it clear that the former Soviet state wanted to join the EU.

Brussels was muted in its response but did draw up an action plan that brings both sides closer on an economic and political front.

The European Commission warned on Thursday that it hoped the events in Ukraine would not jeopardise these bilateral ties.

"We trust that this internal matter will not be allowed to disrupt in any way the close co-operation we enjoy with the Ukrainians particularly on implementation of the Action Plan", said a commission spokesperson.

The spokesperson added that the commission was confident that "commitment to reform and commitment to rooting out corruption" would remain the guiding principles of the Kiev administration.

The now-sacked government had been racked with scandals over the past months.

In the last two weeks some four senior officials have resigned citing corruption concerns while over the summer, Mr Yushchenko's son was exposed driving a €100,000 BMW and holding the post of economic adviser at age 19.

The country faces parliamentary elections in March.