Yanukovych was overthrown in February 2014 during protests at Kiev Majdan, which broke out after his decision to reject the association agreement with the EU in November 2013. After the loss of power, he escaped to Russia, where he has stayed continuously since then.
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In Kiev, the former president was sentenced in 2019 to 13 years in prison for treason. In April this year. The Ukrainian court imposed an additional 15 years imprisonment for illegal crossing the border and organizing an illegal crossing of military helicopters for his colleagues.
During the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, Yanukovych again spoke in public. In May and July 2022, he published two letters to Ukrainians, in which he called for arms and talks with Russia. In his messages he also warned, although he did not provide any evidence that Ukraine “threatened to connect to Poland.”
The former president of Ukraine spoke on a recording published by Russia. Yanukovych criticized the EU
The recording published by Ria Nowosti is another example of Yanukovych's actions affecting the narrative of the conflict in Ukraine from the position of the neighboring country. His statements return to topics from a decade ago, at the same time emphasizing the critical attitude towards the west and eastern military alliances.
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“Kiev's accession to the alliance would be a disaster and a direct path to the internal conflict” – said Yanukovych in the recording. He added that his policy assumed Strengthening cooperation with the European Union, but according to him, European partners did not behave properly, which prevented this goal from achieving this.
