Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko ordered extra troops into the capital on Saturday as he haggled with his main rival over a date for parliamentary elections amid a protracted political crisis.
After 24 hours of confusion over just who controlled the Interior Ministry's force of 30,000 troops, a top official said Yushchenko had ordered extra units into the capital in what he described as a routine operation. The troops' commander said he would obey only orders issued by the president.
But news reports said some of the 2,000 extra troops had been halted by traffic police on their way to the capital. Weeks of political turmoil boiled over on Friday when the head of state said he was taking control of the ministry troops, a move denounced by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich as dangerous and unconstitutional.