Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison
Photo: Kremlin.ru / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
The court has found former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych guilty of illegal border crossing and incitement to desertion, Orda.kz reports.
Yanukovych was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine. The verdict was delivered by the Podilskyi District Court of Kyiv.
He was convicted of organizing the illegal crossing of Ukraine’s state border and inciting military personnel to desert.
According to investigators, on February 23, 2014, Yanukovych, with the assistance of Russian representatives, evacuated his close associates and members of the state security service from Ukraine.
He crossed the border outside of official checkpoints: a convoy of helicopters departed from near the village of Urzuf in the Donetsk region, heading to a military airfield in Yeysk. From there, Yanukovych was transported by sea through Crimea into Russian territory. Several state security officers also deserted alongside him.
This marks Yanukovych’s second sentence in absentia. In 2019, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison for high treason.
Previously, we reported that other former leaders of post-Soviet states have also faced convictions: former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was sentenced to nine years in prison for embezzlement of public funds, while former Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was sentenced in absentia to 30 years for corruption related to the development of the Kumtor gold mine.
Original Author: Ruslan Loginov
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