The coalition is made up of Tymoshenko's bloc and the pro-presidential Our Ukraine party [AFP]

"A kind of treason has taken place. Two deputies have handed their requests to leave the coalition to the parliament administration," Arseni Yatsenyuk, the speaker of the parliament.
 
Prior to the announcement the ruling coalition held 227 seats, just one more than required for a majority in the 450-seat parliament.
 
The two deputies are Igor Rybakov, of the Yulia Tymoshenko bloc, and Yuri But of Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine-people's self-defence party.
 
Ukraine has experienced continued political volatility since the Orange revolution uprising led by Yushchenko, the president, and Tymoshenko, who vowed a pro-Western course including Nato membership.
 
Since then the two politicians have repeatedly fallen out, while pro-Russian politicians have fought to resist the Westward policies.
 
Recent weeks have seen repeated rumours that Tymoshenko might leave her post as she prepares for an expected presidential run against Yushchenko in elections due either next year or in 2010.
 
Ukraine's ruling coalition was formed in a knife-edge vote last November after early parliamentary polls in September.

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