Fleeing Ukraine chief's mansion draws rubberneckers

As President Viktor Yanukovych fled east, protesters in a Kiev suburb yesterday took over his grandiose mansion. They allowed thousands of fellow Ukranians to come and gawk at the splendid residential compound that became an emblem of the secrecy and arrogance that defined his rule.

The mansion, on the northern outskirts of the capital, was an elaborate confection of five stories with marble columns. There were other luxurious houses on the property, too.

Also, there was a man-made lake as large as several football fields, with a life-size galleon and a zoo with deer, ostriches, peacocks and other animals.

Next to the mansion, a garage housed antique cars, motorcycles and at least seven limousines, according to images on website Censor.net.

Activists recovered reams of paper documents that had been thrown into the pond and dried them in a building full of boats and a miniature hovercraft, according to images shown on Hromadske TV.

The compound has been estimated to have cost $100 million to build, The Washington Post website reported.

Protesters attached a Ukrainian flag to a lamppost at the compound, shouting: "Glory to Ukraine!"

-- Combined News Services