The acting Ukrainian president, Oleksandr Turchynov, has fired the Ukrainian ambassador to Denmark, Mykola Skuratovsky.

"It is a standard practice in any country when the new head of state takes his duties and decides to reappoint ambassadors," said Oleh Malyi, a spokesperson from the Ukrainian Embassy in Denmark.

"The same thing happened here – several Ukrainian ambassadors were dismissed by decree of the president."

Ukraine's ambassador to Poland, Markiyan Malsky, and the ambassador to Sweden, Valeriy Stepanov, were also fired.

Just a few months ago, Skuratovsky was called to a meeting at the Danish Foreign Ministry during the intense fighting in Kiev. At that time, the minister expressed his concern at the developments in Ukraine.

Before Skuratovsky became the Ukrainian ambassador to Denmark in 2010, he was the head of the Cultural and Humanitarian Co-operation Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.