Former Ukraine President Will Be Tried in Absentia Over Flight to Russia
Viktor Yanukovych is accused of illegal border crossings and inciting desertion.
Ints Kalnins/Reuters
Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych is set to be tried in absentia over charges stemming from his flight to Russia after being removed from power in 2014, the Ukraine Prosecutor General announced Friday. Yanukovych, who became the president of Ukraine in 2010, is accused of “organizing the illegal transfer of persons across the state border of Ukraine” after fleeing to Russia in the wake of the Euromaidan protests on Feb. 23, 2014. He also allegedly incited servicemen from the State Security Department of Ukraine tasked with his personal security to commit desertion. Yanukovych’s main bodyguard has also been charged. Yanukovych has already been convicted in absentia and sentenced to 13 years for treason in 2019 over a letter sent to Russian President Vladimir Putin asking to use Russian police and armed forces to restore order in Ukraine during the protests that led to his downfall in which over 100 protesters were killed in Kyiv.
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