Ukraine's ex-President Yanukovych sentenced to additional 15 years in prison in absentia

Ukraine's former pro-Kremlin President Viktor Yanukovych has been sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison for inciting desertion and organizing illegal border crossings, the Prosecutor General's Office announced on April 28.

This is Yanukovych’s second conviction by a Ukrainian court. In 2019, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison for high treason and complicity in waging war of aggression against Ukraine.

Yanukovych, Ukraine's former pro-Russian leader, was ousted following the EuroMaidan Revolution in 2014 and subsequently fled to Russia.

The Podilskyi District Court in Kyiv also sentenced a former deputy chief of the State Security Administration, who was in charge of Yanukovych's security, to 10 years on related charges of desertion and facilitating illegal border crossings.

Although the statement did not explicitly name the official, Kostiantyn Kobzar served as Yanukovych's security chief. The State Security Administration is responsible for the personal safety of the president, other top officials, and their family members.

Prosecutors proved that on Feb. 23, 2014, Yanukovych, acting in coordination with his former security chief and Russian representatives, organized an unlawful escape from Ukraine for himself and other people.

According to the court, Yanukovych and at least 20 members of his inner circle and security personnel crossed the border by air without passing through an official checkpoint, using three Russian military helicopters.

They first flew from the Urzuf village in Donetsk Oblast to a military airfield in Yeysk, Russia, before traveling onward to Crimea with Russian military assistance, the statement read.

Yanukovych later reportedly induced State Security Administration service members to desert and facilitated their evacuation by Russian naval forces from Sevastopol to Russia.

The former president’s movements were closely coordinated by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) and military officials, with direct approval from Russian President Vladimir Putin, prosecutors said.

The trial was conducted under a special procedure in absentia, as both defendants remain fugitives. Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation led the pre-trial investigation.

Yanukovych, 73, remains one of Ukraine’s most controversial political figures. He was rejected by the voters in the aftermath of the 2004 Orange Revolution, which overturned a rigged election in his favor. Nevertheless, he returned to win the presidency in 2010.

Yanukovych's presidency, widely seen as corrupt and authoritarian, drew Ukraine closer to Russia. In November 2013, his refusal to sign an association agreement with the European Union triggered mass protests known as the EuroMaidan Revolution. After the deaths of nearly 100 protesters at the hands of security forces in February 2014, Yanukovych fled Ukraine and sought refuge in Russia.

The media reported in 2022 that the Kremlin had considered reinstalling Yanukovych in a leadership role if Russian forces had successfully seized Kyiv at the start of its full-scale invasion.