Viktor Yanukovych

{{short description|President of Ukraine from 2010 to 2014}} {{redirect|Yanukovych|other people with the surname|Yanukovych (surname)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2025}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Viktor Yanukovych | native_name = {{nobold|Віктор Янукович}} | native_name_lang = uk | image = Viktor Yanukovych official portrait.jpg | caption = Official portrait, 2010 | order = 4th | office = President of Ukraine | prime_minister = {{ubl|Yulia Tymoshenko|Oleksandr Turchynov (acting)|Mykola Azarov|Serhiy Arbuzov (acting)}} | term_start = 25 February 2010 | term_end = 22 February 2014{{Efn|Fled the country on the night of 21–22 February, but claiming the presidency sometime after that. Officially deprived of the title on 18 June 2015.<ref>Resolution of Verkhovna Rada #757–VII. [http://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/757-VII About self removal of President of Ukraine from execution of his constitutional powers and assignment of early elections of President of Ukraine (Про самоусунення Президента України від виконання конституційних повноважень та призначення позачергових виборів Президента України)]. Verkhovna Rada. 22 February 2014</ref>}} | predecessor = Viktor Yushchenko | successor = Oleksandr Turchynov (acting) Petro Poroshenko | order1 = 9th and 12th | office1 = Prime Minister of Ukraine | president1 = Viktor Yushchenko | deputy1 = Mykola Azarov | term_start1 = 4 August 2006 | term_end1 = 18 December 2007 | predecessor1 = Yuriy Yekhanurov | successor1 = Yulia Tymoshenko | president2 = Leonid Kuchma | deputy2 = Mykola Azarov | term_start2 = 28 December 2004 | term_end2 = 5 January 2005 | predecessor2 = Mykola Azarov (acting) | successor2 = Mykola Azarov (acting) | president3 = Leonid Kuchma | deputy3 = Mykola Azarov | term_start3 = 21 November 2002 | term_end3 = 7 December 2004 | predecessor3 = Anatoliy Kinakh | successor3 = Mykola Azarov (acting) | office7 = Chairman of Donetsk Oblast Council | term_start7 = 14 May 1999 | term_end7 = 14 May 2001 | predecessor7 = Ivan Ponomaryov | successor7 = Borys Kolesnikov | office6 = Governor of Donetsk Oblast | term_start6 = 14 May 1997 | term_end6 = 21 November 2002 | predecessor6 = Serhii Polyakov | successor6 = Anatoliy Blyznyuk | office4 = People's Deputy of Ukraine | term_start4 = 25 May 2006 | term_end4 = 12 September 2006 | term_start5 = 23 November 2007 | term_end5 = 19 February 2010 | subterm4 = May–September 2006 | subterm5 = 2007–2010 | constituency4 = At-large | constituency5 = At-large | office8 = Deputy Governor of Donetsk Oblast | term_start8 = August 1996 | term_end8 = May 1997 | governor8 = Serhii Polyakov | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1950|7|9|df=yes}} | birth_place = Yenakiieve, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union | citizenship = {{plainlist| * Soviet Union (until 1991) * Ukraine (1991–2023) * Russia (from 2014){{dubious|date=September 2025}} }} | party = Party of Regions (1997–2014) | other_party = CPSU (1980–1991) | spouse = {{marriage|Lyudmilla Nastenko|1971|2016|reason=divorce}} | children = {{hlist|Oleksandr|Viktor}} | alma_mater = Donetsk National Technical University Ukrainian State University of Finance and International Trade | signature = Viktor Yanukovych signature.svg | website = [https://web.archive.org/web/20140209093624/http://www.president.gov.ua/en/ Viktor Yanukovych, President of Ukraine] (''Archived'') | module = {{Listen | pos = center | embed = yes | filename = Viktor Yanukovych's Voice.ogg | title = Viktor Yanukovych's voice | type = speech | description = Viktor Yanukovych at a press conference with Dmitry Medvedev on closer relations between Ukraine and Russia and agreements on negotiations Recorded 5 March 2010}} }}

'''Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych'''{{efn|{{langx|uk|Віктор Федорович Янукович}}, {{IPA|uk|ˈwiktor ˈfɛdorowɪtʃ jɐnʊˈkɔwɪtʃ|pron|Uk-Янукович.oga}}; {{langx|ru|Виктор Федорович Янукович}}. {{family name explanation|Fedorovych|Yanukovych|lang=Eastern Slavic}}}} (born 9 July 1950) is a former politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 to 2014. He also served as the prime minister of Ukraine several times between 2002 and 2007 and was a member of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) from 2006 to 2010. Yanukovych was removed from the presidency during the 2014 Revolution of Dignity, which followed months of protests against him. Since then, he has lived in exile in Russia.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Roth|first=Andrew|date=25 January 2019|title=Ukraine's ex-president Viktor Yanukovych found guilty of treason|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/25/ukraine-ex-president-viktor-yanukovych-found-guilty-of-treason|access-date=28 May 2020|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

Yanukovych was a member of the pro-Russian Party of Regions. Before entering national politics, Yanukovych was the governor of his native Donetsk Oblast from 1997 to 2002. He was simultaneously the chairman of the oblast's legislature from 1999 to 2001. He first ran for president in the 2004 election, where he was declared the winner against Viktor Yushchenko. However, allegations of electoral fraud and voter intimidation caused widespread protests, in what became known as the Orange Revolution. The Ukrainian Supreme Court nullified the election and ordered a rerun, which Yanukovych lost to Yushchenko. {{anchor|2010election}}Yanukovych ran for president again in 2010, this time beating Yulia Tymoshenko in an election deemed free and fair by international observers.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26248275 | title= Ukraine crisis: Timeline}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/feb/08/viktor-yanukovych-ukraine-president-election|title=Yanukovych set to become president as observers say Ukraine election was fair|date=8 February 2010|website=the Guardian}}</ref>

Yanukovych stood for economic modernisation, greater economic ties with the EU, and military non-alignment. However, his years in power saw what analysts described as democratic backsliding,<ref name="BBCObs2910">[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20120888 Ukraine election 'reversed democracy', OSCE says], BBC News (29 October 2012)</ref> which included the jailing of Tymoshenko, a decline in press freedom<ref name="press-freedom" /> and an increase in cronyism and corruption.<ref name="SL-OD" /> In November 2013, Yanukovych suddenly withdrew from signing an association agreement with the EU, amidst economic pressure from Russia.<ref name="Dinan">{{cite book |editor1-last=Dinan |editor1-first=Desmond |editor2-last=Nugent |editor2-first=Neil |title=The European Union in Crisis |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |date=2017 |pages=3, 274}}</ref> Ukraine's parliament had overwhelmingly approved finalizing the agreement.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=Andrew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Q3CEAAAQBAJ&q=In+2013+Yanukovych+provoked+mass+%22the+ukrainians%22 |title=The Ukrainians: Unexpected Nation |date=8 November 2022 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-27249-9 |pages=345 |language=en}}</ref> This sparked massive protests against him, known as the Euromaidan.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/ukraine-yanukovych-finished-9775?page=2|title=Ukraine: Is Yanukovych Finished?|author=Rajan Menon|page=3|date=28 January 2014|magazine=The National Interest|access-date=30 January 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/ousted-ukraine-president-warns-of-civil-war-criticizes-us-for-aiding-current-government/2014/03/11/13fd0482-a907-11e3-b61e-8051b8b52d06_story.html|title=Ousted Ukraine president warns of civil war, criticizes U.S. for aiding current government|author=Kathy Lally|date=11 March 2014|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=17 March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/02/how-ukraine-s-parliament-brought-down-yanukovych.html|title=How Ukraine's Parliament Brought Down Yanukovych|author=Maxim Eristavi|work=The Daily Beast|date=2 March 2014|access-date=17 March 2014}}</ref> The unrest peaked in February 2014, when almost 100 protesters were killed by government forces.<ref name="OHCHR">{{cite web |title=Accountability for killings in Ukraine from January 2014 to May 2016 |url=https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/OHCHRThematicReportUkraineJan2014-May2016_EN.pdf |publisher=Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights |pages=9, 21–25}}</ref> An agreement was signed by Yanukovych and the opposition on 21 February 2014, but he secretly fled the capital that evening. The next day, Ukraine's parliament voted to remove him and schedule early elections on the grounds that he had withdrawn from his constitutional duties.<ref>{{cite news|title=Rada removes Yanukovych from office, schedules new elections for May 25|work=Interfax Ukraine|url=https://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/192030.html}}</ref><ref name="Yanuousted">[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26312008 "Ukraine: Speaker Oleksandr Turchynov named interim president"], BBC News (23 February 2014) [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-26248275 "Ukraine protests timeline"], BBC News (23 February 2014)</ref> Some of his own party voted for his removal.<ref name="EnUkrRev">{{cite news|title=Archrival Is Freed as Ukraine Leader Flees|work=The New York Times|date=22 February 2014|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/23/world/europe/ukraine.html|access-date=23 February 2014|author1=Andrew Higgins|author2=Andrew E.Kramer}}</ref><ref name="SternBBC">{{cite news|author=David Stern|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26304842|title=Ukrainian MPs vote to oust President Yanukovych|publisher=BBC|date=22 February 2014|access-date=17 March 2014}}</ref><ref name="w1.c1.rada.gov.ua">{{Cite web|url=http://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/radan_gs09/ns_golos?g_id=3863|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140312210622/http://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/radan_gs09/ns_golos?g_id=3863|url-status=dead|title=Офіційний портал Верховної Ради України|archive-date=12 March 2014|website=w1.c1.rada.gov.ua}}</ref><ref name="pravda.com.ua">{{cite news|url=http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2014/02/22/7015777/|script-title=uk:Рада скинула Януковича|trans-title=Parliament dropped Yanukovych|language=uk|date=22 February 2014|access-date=19 October 2015}}</ref><ref>[https://www.rferl.org/a/Ukraines_Tymoshenko_Slams_Rival_No_Comment_On_Election_Result/1954993.html Ukraine's Tymoshenko Slams Rival, No Comment On Election Result], Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (11 February 2010): "International observers and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have called the election transparent and honest."</ref>

Ukraine's new government issued an arrest warrant for Yanukovych, accusing him of responsibility for the killing of protesters. He fled to Russia, claiming to still be the head of state.<ref name="KyivPost">{{Cite news|url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/yanukovych-says-he-is-still-president-of-ukraine-337743.html|title=Yanukovych reportedly declares he is Ukraine's president and plans press conference in Russia on Feb. 28|work=Kyiv Post|date=27 February 2014|access-date=27 February 2014}}</ref> In 2019, he was sentenced ''in absentia'' to a thirteen-year prison term for high treason by a Ukrainian court.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-crisis-yanukovich-idUSKCN1PI27B |title=Ukrainian court sentences ex-president Yanukovich to 13 years in prison |author= |date=24 January 2019 |work=Reuters |access-date=8 March 2019}}</ref> In polling conducted since he left office, Yanukovych has ranked as one of the worst presidents in Ukrainian history.{{efn|Attributed to multiple sources:<ref>{{Cite web|date=22 July 2019|title=Хто був найкращим президентом на думку українців|url=https://www.gazeta-nagolos.com.ua/%d1%85%d1%82%d0%be-%d0%b1%d1%83%d0%b2-%d0%bd%d0%b0%d0%b9%d0%ba%d1%80%d0%b0%d1%89%d0%b8%d0%bc-%d0%bf%d1%80%d0%b5%d0%b7%d0%b8%d0%b4%d0%b5%d0%bd%d1%82%d0%be%d0%bc-%d0%b2-%d1%83%d0%ba%d1%80%d0%b0%d1%97/|access-date=10 August 2020|website=Всеукраїнська газета Наголос|language=uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=18 May 2020|title=Українці визначилися з "найкращим президентом" в історії країни - Рейтинг|url=https://ua-news.liga.net/politics/news/ukraintsi-viznachilisya-z-naykraschim-prezidentom-v-istorii-kraini---reyting|access-date=10 August 2020|website=LIGA|language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Як змінювався рівень довіри та підтримки Зеленського та його попередників (оновлено) |url=https://www.slovoidilo.ua/2021/10/27/infografika/polityka/prezydentski-rejtynhy-yak-zminyuvavsya-riven-doviry-zelenskoho-ta-joho-poperednykiv |access-date=11 May 2022 |website=Слово і Діло |language=uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Оцінка президентів: найбільше довіряють Зеленському, найкращим вважають Кучму |url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2021/05/20/7294180/ |access-date=11 May 2022 |website=Українська правда |language=uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1 December 2021 |title=Історія президентів України в семи актах - Центр спільних дій |url=https://centreua.org/parlamentska-respublika/istoriya-prezydentiv-ukrayiny-v-semy-aktah-abo-chomu-teatr-odnogo-aktora-nam-ne-pidhodyt/ |access-date=13 May 2022 |website=Сentreua |language=uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=22 July 2019|title=Хто був найкращим президентом на думку українців|url=https://www.gazeta-nagolos.com.ua/%d1%85%d1%82%d0%be-%d0%b1%d1%83%d0%b2-%d0%bd%d0%b0%d0%b9%d0%ba%d1%80%d0%b0%d1%89%d0%b8%d0%bc-%d0%bf%d1%80%d0%b5%d0%b7%d0%b8%d0%b4%d0%b5%d0%bd%d1%82%d0%be%d0%bc-%d0%b2-%d1%83%d0%ba%d1%80%d0%b0%d1%97/|access-date=10 August 2020|website=Всеукраїнська газета Наголос|language=uk|trans-title=Who was the best president according to Ukrainians?}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1 December 2021 |title=Історія президентів України в семи актах – Центр спільних дій |url=https://centreua.org/parlamentska-respublika/istoriya-prezydentiv-ukrayiny-v-semy-aktah-abo-chomu-teatr-odnogo-aktora-nam-ne-pidhodyt/ |access-date=13 May 2022 |website=Сentreua |language=uk|trans-title=Presidents' assessment: Zelensky is most trusted, Kuchma is considered the best}}</ref>}} Yanukovych has also given his name to a collective term for blunders made by Ukrainian politicians: ''Yanukisms''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=3 September 2010 |title=Янукізми |url=https://tyzhden.ua/ianukizmy/ |access-date=4 March 2023 |website=Український тиждень |language=uk}}</ref> {{Viktor Yanukovych series}}

==Early life and career== Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych was born on 9 July 1950<ref name=rednotice>{{cite web |url= http://www.interpol.int/notice/search/wanted/2014-13031 |title= YANUKOVYCH, VIKTOR |access-date= 12 January 2015 |publisher= Interpol |archive-url= https://archive.today/20150112165034/http://www.interpol.int/notice/search/wanted/2014-13031 |archive-date= 12 January 2015 |url-status= dead }}</ref> in Zhukovka, a village near the city of Yenakiieve in the Donetsk Oblast in the Ukrainian part of the Donbas. At the time, Ukraine, known by the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union. Of his childhood, he has written: "My childhood was difficult and hungry. I grew up without my mother, who died when I was two. I went around bare-footed on the streets. I had to fight for myself every day.<ref name="Tele">[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatnews/6973451/Ukraines-Orange-villain-seeks-last-laugh.html "Ukraine's 'Orange villain' seeks last laugh"], ''U.K. Telegraph'' online (12 January 2010)</ref>

Yanukovych is of Russian, Polish<ref>[http://wyborcza.pl/1,76842,9037863,Janukowycz_zmienia_konstytucje_Ukrainy__przedluza.html Wojciechowski, M. ''Janukowycz zmienia konstytucję Ukrainy, przedłuża sobie kadencję i podkreśla polskie korzenie''.] "Gazeta Wyborcza". Kyiv, 02/2011.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://polskinetwork.org/strona,duma,43,znani-polacy-wspolczesnie.html |title= Polski Network. ''Znani Polacy współcześnie'' |publisher= Polskinetwork.org |access-date= 28 December 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130127045644/http://www.polskinetwork.org/strona,duma,43,znani-polacy-wspolczesnie.html |archive-date= 27 January 2013 |url-status= dead}}</ref> and Belarusian descent. Yanukovych is a surname of Belarusian origin,<ref name="birila">{{in lang|be}} Бiрыла, М. В. (1966). ''Беларуская антрапанiмiя. Уласныя iмёны, iмёны-мянушкi, iмёны па бацьку, прозвiшчы.'' Мінск: Навука i тэхнiка. с. 85–86.</ref> ''Yanuk''<ref>Unbegaun, B. O. (1972). ''Russian Surnames''. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 529 p.</ref><ref>{{in lang|be}} Усціновіч, Г. К. (1975). ''Антрапанімія Гродзеншчыны і Брэстчыны (XIV—XVIII стст.).'' Мінск: Навука і тэхніка. с. 89–106.</ref> being a derivative of the Catholic name ''Yan'' ("John").<ref name="birila"/><ref>{{in lang|be}} Ластоўскі, В. (1924). ''Падручны Расійска-Крыўскі (Беларускі) слоўнік.'' Коўна. c. 761–767.</ref><ref>{{in lang|be}} Шур, В. В. (2010). ''Уласнае імя ў мастацкім тэксце.'' с. 93.</ref> His mother was a Russian nurse and his father, Fyodor Yanukovych, was a Polish-Belarusian locomotive-driver, originally from {{ill|Yanuki|pl|Januki}} in the Dokshytsy Raion of the Vitebsk Region which is in present-day Belarus.<ref>{{cite news|title= Politicians' roots: Ataman from Khoruzhivka and Kuzhel-Dolgorukaya|url= http://www.segodnya.ua/ukraine/korni-politikov-ataman-iz-khoruzhevki-i-kuzhel-dolhorukaja.html|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131203105352/http://www.segodnya.ua/ukraine/korni-politikov-ataman-iz-khoruzhevki-i-kuzhel-dolhorukaja.html|url-status= dead|archive-date= 3 December 2013|publisher= Segodnya|date= 1 May 2009|access-date= 14 June 2009|language= ru}}</ref><ref name="kppolish">{{cite news|title= Yanukovych announces Polish roots ahead of Warsaw trip on 3 Feb. #comment-104899|url= https://www.kyivpost.com/article/content/ukraine-politics/yanukovych-announces-polish-roots-ahead-of-warsaw-96150.html |newspaper= Kyiv Post|access-date= 2 February 2011}}</ref> On various occasions, Yanukovych's family has been dogged by accusations that Fyodor Yanukovych was a member of the ''Schutzmannschaft'' during World War II, in particular claims by members of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, which included documents from the NKVD supposedly revealing his involvement with the ''Schutzmannschaft''.<ref>{{Cite news |date=25 September 2007 |title=ПОЛИЦАЙСКАЯ БЛЯХА |language=ru |trans-title=Police Tin |work=ORD |url=https://ord-ua.com/2007/09/25/politsajskaya-blyaha/ |access-date=19 July 2022}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=4 December 2009 |title=Янукович – сын полицая или предок германского крестоносца? |language=ru |trans-title=Yanukovych – son of a policeman, or ancestor of a German crusader? |work=Zhytomyr.info |url=https://www.zhitomir.info/news_50597.html |access-date=19 July 2022}}</ref> However, it has also been stated by residents of Yanuki that Yanukovych's family left for the Donbas before 1917, and that the collaborator Fyodor Yanukovych was an unrelated individual.<ref>{{Cite news |date=28 September 2007 |title=Was the Ukrainian prime minister's father a Nazi collaborator in Belarus? |work=Euroradio |url=https://euroradio.fm/en/was-ukrainian-prime-ministers-father-nazi-collaborator-belarus |access-date=19 July 2022}}</ref> Others, particularly members of the Party of Regions, have claimed that the documents were a falsehood with the intention of disparaging Yanukovych ahead of elections.<ref name=":2" />

By the time he was a teenager, Yanukovych's father had remarried. However, Viktor left home due to conflicts with his stepmother, and was brought up by his Polish paternal grandmother, originally from Warsaw. His grandfather and great-grandparents were Lithuanian-Poles. Yanukovych has half-sisters from his father's remarriage, but has no contact with them.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Viktorovych |first=Yana |date=4 August 2006 |title="Прємьєр-міністр" Янукович, или неофициальная биография для тех, кто подзабыл |language=uk |trans-title="Prime Minister" Yanukovych, or an unofficial biography for those who have forgotten |work=Ukrayinska Pravda |url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/articles/2006/08/4/4403419/}}</ref>

In 1971, Yanukovych married Lyudmyla Nastenko<ref name="UKPresWifes">[http://tass.ru/en/world/735058 "First ladies of Ukraine"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018204137/http://tass.ru/en/world/735058 |date=18 October 2015 }}, Information Telegraph Agency of Russia (6 June 2014)</ref> a niece of Yenakiyeve city judge Oleksandr Sazhyn.<ref>Kazmirenko, Y. ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20141008232932/http://dosye.com.ua/articles/2010-02-25/s-chego-nachinalsja-janukovich/128/ From where started Yanukovych]. Gazeta po-kievsky. 25 February 2010'' </ref>

In July 1974, Yanukovych enrolled at the Donetsk Polytechnic Institute. In 1976, as a second-year student, he was promoted to director of a trucking division within the ''Ordzhonikidzeugol'' coal-mining company.<ref name="pravdapublicimage">[http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2004/05/13/2999853/ "Public image of Yanukovych"]. ''Ukrayinska Pravda''.</ref> His appointment as the chief manager marked the start of his managerial career as a regional transport executive. He held various positions in transport companies in Yenakiieve and Donetsk until 1996.<ref name=Tele/>

===Criminal convictions=== On 15 December 1967, at the age of 17, Yanukovych was sentenced to three years imprisonment for participating in a robbery and assault.<ref name="Gorina">{{cite news|first= Ivanna|last= Gorina|title= Criminal record of Yanukovych not purged|url= http://www.rg.ru/2005/07/13/yanukovich.html|work= Rossiyskaya Gazeta|date= 13 July 2005 |access-date= 12 April 2015|language= ru}}</ref> On 8 June 1970 he was convicted for a second time on charges of assault. He was sentenced to two years of imprisonment and did not appeal the verdict. Decades later, Yanukovych characterised his arrests and imprisonment as "mistakes of youth".<ref name="polit.ru">{{cite news|title= Yanukovych's criminal record re-instated|url= http://www.polit.ru/article/2005/07/12/sudimost/|publisher= Polit.ru|date= 12 July 2005 |access-date= 12 April 2015|language= ru}}</ref>

On 27 December 1978 both of Yanukovych's convictions were overturned by the Donetsk Regional Court at the initiative of judge Vitaliy Boiko, after an appeal by Soviet cosmonaut Georgy Beregovoy, then deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. In 2005 deputy head prosecutor of Donetsk Oblast initiated a proceeding concerning possible falsification of documents confirming the overturn of Yanukovych's convictions, however in 2006 it was abandoned. According to a local judge, the originals of documents concerning Yanukovych's convictions went missing from the Yenakieve court between 1989 and 2000 due to "insufficient security measures".<ref>{{Cite web|title=How Yanukovych's convictions were overturned. The documents are being published for the first time|date=14 January 2010|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/articles/2010/01/14/4618441/|access-date=16 September 2025|language=uk}}</ref>

In October 2004, Ukrainian deputy Hryhoriy Omelchenko accused Yanukovych of having been a member of "a group of individuals who brutally beat and raped a woman, but bought off the victim and the criminal case was closed".<ref>{{in lang|ru}} [http://gazeta.ua/index.php?id=315486&lang=ru "Мог ли Янукович сесть в третий раз"], Газета.ua (12 November 2009)</ref> The press-service of the Ukrainian Cabinet asserted that Yanukovych suffered for the attempt to defend a girl from hooligans.{{Citation needed|date=March 2012}}

==Political career: 1996–2010== ===Head of Donetsk Oblast Administration (1997-2002)=== Yanukovych's political career began when he was appointed as a Vice-Head of Donetsk Oblast Administration in August 1996. On 14 May 1997, he was appointed as the Head of the Administration (i.e. Governor).<ref name="BBCprofile">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4038803.stm "Profile: Viktor Yanukovych"], BBC News (regularly updated)</ref> Oligarch Rinat Akhmetov was widely considered to have played a key role in Yanukovych's appointment as governor. During his tenure in Donetsk, local business groups, dominated by the Industrial Union of Donbas, managed to concentrate under their control the entire production chain of the region's coal and metal industries, as well as energy production.<ref name=don>{{Cite web|title="Донецький клан" упевнено входить у владу|date=2001-08-15|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2001/08/15/2983505/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref> In June 1998 Yanukovych was elected member of Donetsk Oblast Council.<ref name=ape>{{Cite web|title=Донецькі апетити|date=2001-12-19|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2001/12/19/2985902/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref> [[File:Настя Федоренко. Донецк. Увидеть и полюбить. 032.jpg|thumb|left|Yanukovych with Donetsk mayor Volodymyr Rybak (left) during his term as regional governor]] In 2001 Yanukovych became a member of the newly created Party of Regions, which was considered to represent the interests of the "Donetsk Clan".<ref name=ape/> As governor, he was seen by journalists as a protegée of the party's head Mykola Azarov, who also served as head of the State Tax Administration of Ukraine.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Азаров готовий розповісти все про клани|date=2001-08-07|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2001/08/07/2983424/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref> Yanukovych was claimed to have played a key role in the privatization of Alchevsk Metallurgical Complex, during which representatives of "Donetsk Clan" and "Dnipropetrovsk Mafia" received equal shares of the enterprise.<ref name=don/> During that time he criticized the centralization of Ukrainian politics and called on authorities in Kyiv to define the rights and obligations of separate regions before the government.<ref name=ape/> Yanukovych publicly supported For United Ukraine! during the 2002 Ukrainian parliamentary election.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Донецький губернатор називає частину списку ТУНДРи|date=2001-12-19|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2001/12/19/2985921/|access-date=2006-04-06}}</ref> As a result of the vote, Donetsk Oblast became the only region of Ukraine, where the pro-government party won the election amid claims of numerous violations of electoral process.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Янукович: академік, парашутист, рецидивіст?|date=2002-11-18|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2002/11/18/2991607/|access-date=2006-04-06}}</ref>

===Prime Minister (2002–2004)=== {{further|First Yanukovych government}} President Leonid Kuchma appointed Yanukovych to the post of prime minister following Anatoliy Kinakh's resignation.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=B3bwDpegCCYC&pg=PA549 "The countries of the former Soviet Union at the turn of the twenty-first century: the Baltic and European states in transition" (page 556)] by Ian Jeffries, {{ISBN|0-415-25230-X}}, 9780415252300 (published in 2004)</ref> Yanukovych began his term as prime minister on 21 November 2002 following a 234-vote confirmation in the Ukrainian parliament, eight more than needed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.from-ua.com/politics/42a9194b28012|title=Political career of Viktor Y.|access-date=13 June 2009|work=from-ua.com|language=ru}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=C8C3xuqd6aMC&pg=PA152 "How Ukraine Became a Market Economy and Democracy"] by Anders Åslund, Peterson Institute for International Economics, 2009, {{ISBN|978-0-88132-427-3}} (page 153)</ref> According to ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'', Yanukovych's appointment was part of Kuchma's plan to establish a counterweight to the powerful head of his administration, Viktor Medvedchuk.<ref>{{Cite web|title=ЯНУКОВИЧ - ПРЕДСТАВНИК "НАЙБЕЗЖАЛЬНІШОГО ТА НАЙБРУТАЛЬНІШОГО" КЛАНУ, ВВАЖАЮТЬ НА ЗАХОДІ|date=2002-11-18|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2002/11/18/2991626/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref> Opposition politicians considered Yanukovych's government to be the result of a compromise between the Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk and Kyiv oligarchic clans.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Кабмін Януковича – компроміс Медведчука, Ахметова та Пінчука|date=2002-12-02|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2002/12/02/2991848/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref> On his post Yanukovych supported the expansion of authority of the executive branch.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Янукович хоче "дискусії", чи треба обирати президента Верховною Радою|date=2003-08-22|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2003/08/22/2995099/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref> [[File:Viktor Yanukovych 17 March 2003 02.jpg|thumb|Yanukovych during a meeting with European Commission president Romano Prodi in 2003]] During the first year of Yanukovych's premiership, Ukraine's population suffered from rising bread and grain prices, which were blamed on falsified data about the previous year's harvest and led to what was described as the country's worst food crisis since independence 12 years earlier.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Доля Януковича ще не визначена|date=2003-07-03|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2003/07/03/2994501/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref> In order to combat inflation, the cabinet allocated 400 million hryvnias to be spent on grain imports.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ще два тижні Україна буде залишатися без хліба, обіцяє Янукович|date=2003-07-02|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2003/07/02/2994472/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref> Yanukovych himself called the rise of prices "artificial" and demand from regional governors to take measures in order to limit it.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Янукович обіцяє обнародувати імена винних в підвищенні цін|date=2003-07-17|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2003/07/17/2994697/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref> In 2003 his government established a two-year moratorium on taxation benefits.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Янукович вводить мораторій на пільги|date=2003-08-06|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2003/08/06/2994923/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref> Some experts blamed Yanukovych's cabinet of reversing market reforms and returning to the practices of market intervention, subsidies and price controls.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Німецький експерт: уряд Януковича зробив кроки назад|date=2004-03-17|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2004/03/17/2998683/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref>

In foreign affairs, Yanukovych's cabinet was considered to be politically close to Russia, promoting the creation of the Single Economic Space,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Янукович обіцяє виправити помилки і підписати договір про ЄЕП|date=2003-09-11|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2003/09/11/2995368/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref> but at the same time declared support for Ukrainian membership in the European Union. Although Yanukovych's parliamentary coalition was not supporting Ukrainian membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), his cabinet agreed to the commission of Ukrainian troops to the Iraq War in support of the United States' war on terrorism. Yanukovych also supported Ukraine's membership in the World Trade Organization.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Янукович зробить усе, щоб Кучма вступив до СОТ до кінця року|date=2003-05-23|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2003/05/23/2993964/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref> During the Tuzla Island crisis in 2003, Yanukovych held negotiations with Russian prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov, as a result of which an agreement was reached to remove Ukrainian border guards from the island in exchange for Russia stopping the construction of its dam.<ref>{{Cite web|title=ЯНУКОВИЧ І КАСЬЯНОВ ВИРІШИЛИ ПРИБРАТИ УКРАЇНСЬКИХ ПРИКОРДОННИКІВ З ТУЗЛИ|date=2003-10-24|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2003/10/24/2996115/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref> However, Yanukovych later denied that removal of border troops was part of the agreement,<ref>{{Cite web|title=ЯНУКОВИЧ КАЖЕ, ЩО НЕ ОБІЦЯВ ПРИБИРАТИ ПРИКОРДОННИКІВ З ТУЗЛИ|date=2003-10-24|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2003/10/24/2996126/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref> and Ukrainian guards remained on the island.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Усупереч домовленості Янукович-Касьянов українці залишаються на Тузлі|date=2003-10-26|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2003/10/26/2996137/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref>

===2004 presidential campaign=== thumb|Percentage of total national vote for Yanukovych in the final round of the 2004 presidential election {{further|Ukrainian presidential election, 2004|Orange Revolution}}

In 2004, as the prime minister, Yanukovych participated in the controversial Ukrainian presidential election as the candidate of the ruling coalition.<ref>{{Cite web|title=КУЧМІСТИ РАЗОМ З КУЧМОЮ ВИСУНУЛИ ЯНУКОВИЧА В ПРЕЗИДЕНТИ. В ОБМІН НА ПОЛІТРЕФОРМУ|date=2004-04-14|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2004/04/14/2999254/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref> Yanukovych's candidacy was officially approved on 4 July 2004 by a congress involving representatives of the Party of Regions, Labour Ukraine and Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united), with Labour Ukraine leader Serhiy Tihipko being appointed to head his election headquarters.<ref>{{Cite web|title=ЯНУКОВИЧА ВИСУ��УЛИ, А ЙОГО ШТАБ ОЧОЛИВ ТІГІПКО|date=2004-07-04|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2004/07/04/3000919/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref> Volodymyr Lytvyn's People's Agrarian Party, Valeriy Pustovoitenko's People's Democratic Party, Heorhiy Kirpa's Revival, as well as Spravedlyvist, Russian Bloc and several other minor parties later issued their own declarations in support of Yanukovych's candidacy.<ref>{{Cite web|title=ПАРТІЯ ЛИТВИНА ОДНОГОЛОСНО ПІДТРИМАЛА ЯНУКОВИЧА|date=2004-07-09|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2004/07/09/3001047/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=НДП підтримала Януковича, а Пустовойтенко отримав посаду|date=2004-07-10|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2004/07/10/3001073/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Кірпа з волейболистами за Януковича, бо він симпатичний як людина|date=2004-07-17|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2004/07/17/3001230/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=У підтримку Януковича виступила ліва партія на чолі з інфопосадовцем|date=2004-07-10|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2004/07/10/3001075/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Януковича підтримала ще одна партія. За це Україна заговорить російською|date=2004-07-14|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2004/07/14/3001169/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Партія підлеглого Януковича підтримала Януковича|date=2004-07-14|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2004/07/14/3001150/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Януковича підтримали мусульмани, а його штаб очолив онколог|date=2004-07-13|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2004/07/13/3001115/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref>

His nomination was approved by president Leonid Kuchma.<ref>{{Cite web|title=ГОЛОВНА ЗАДАЧА КУЧМИ ПЕРЕД ЯНУКОВИЧЕМ - ПЕРЕМОГА НА ВИБОРАХ, А НЕ ПОЛІТРЕФОРМА|date=2004-04-16|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2004/04/16/2999308/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref>

Yanukovych's main base of support emerged from the southern and eastern regions of Ukraine, which favored close ties with neighbouring Russia.<ref name="theguardian.com"/> During his campaign, he supported the provision of official status to Russian language in Ukraine, while insisting, that Ukrainian should remain the only "state language".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Янукович пішов у відступ у питанні мови|date=2004-10-04|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2004/10/04/3002936/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref> He also supported the introduction of double citizenship with Russia and promoted church unification.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Янукович продовжує чхати на протести Кучми|date=2004-10-09|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2004/10/09/3003092/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref>

According to the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, Yanukovych's presidential campaign was actively supported by government-owned media, giving him an unfair advantage over other candidates.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Про Януковича пишуть однакові статті, а виборам загрожують бандити|date=2004-06-04|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2004/06/04/3000312/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref> Yanukovych was also openly supported by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate metropolitan Volodymyr Sabodan.<ref>{{Cite web|title=За Януковича агітує вдячний глава УПЦ Московського Патріархату|date=2004-07-29|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2004/07/29/3001514/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref> Russian political scientist Gleb Pavlovsky, who had previously cooperated with Kuchma's administration, took part in his presidential campaign.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Помер російський політолог Гліб Павловський|work=Історична правда |date=27 February 2023|url=https://www.istpravda.com.ua/short/2023/02/27/162435/|access-date=15 September 2025}}</ref> A number of popular performers, including Iosif Kobzon, Yan Tabachnik, Taisia Povaliy, Natasha Korolyova and Filipp Kirkorov took part in concerts in support of Yanukovych.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Кіркоров на концерті за Януковича агітував за.. Ющенка|date=2004-10-11|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2004/10/11/3003129/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref> His candidacy was openly endorsed by Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky, while Russian president Vladimir Putin wished Yanukovych "success" in the elction.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Жириновський порадив Януковичу саджати яйцеметальників у каталажку|date=2004-10-18|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2004/10/18/3003315/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Путін поцілував Януковича|date=2004-11-12|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2004/11/12/3004137/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref> thumb|Yanukovych (sitting on the right) attending talks with opposition representatives during the Orange Revolution in Kyiv In the first round of voting held on 31 October 2004, Yanukovych took second place with 39.3 percent of the votes to opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko with 39.8 percent. Because no candidate passed the 50 percent threshold, a second round of voting was scheduled.<ref name="theguardian.com">Paton Walsh, Nick. [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/dec/29/ukraine.nickpatonwalsh "Pressure Mounts on Yanukovych to yield."] ''The Guardian''. 29 December 2004.</ref> In the second round of the election, Yanukovych was initially declared the winner, with Putin congratulating him with "solid victory" in a telephone call.<ref>{{Cite web|title=ПУТІН ВЖЕ ПОЗДОРОВИВ ЯНУКОВИЧА З ПЕРЕКОНЛИВОЮ ПЕРЕМОГОЮ|date=2004-11-22|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2004/11/22/3004500/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref> However, the legitimacy of the election was questioned by Ukrainians, international organizations, and foreign governments following allegations of electoral fraud. The resulting widespread protests became known as the Orange Revolution. The second round of the election was subsequently annulled by the Supreme Court of Ukraine, and in the repeated run-off, Yanukovych lost to Yushchenko with 44.2 percent to Yushchenko's 51.9 percent.<ref name="theguardian.com"/>

===Resignation and aftermath=== After the election, the Ukrainian parliament passed a non-binding motion of no confidence in Yanukovych's government, urging outgoing President Kuchma to dismiss Yanukovych and appoint a caretaker government. Five days after his electoral defeat, Yanukovych declared his resignation from the post of prime minister. In November 2009 Yanukovych stated that he conceded defeat only to avoid violence. "I didn't want mothers to lose their children and wives their husbands. I didn't want dead bodies from Kyiv to flow down the Dnipro. I didn't want to assume power through bloodshed."<ref>[http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/26340/ "Yanukovych says presidential election scenario of 2004 won't be repeated in 2010"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121116221809/http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/26340/ |date=16 November 2012 }}, Interfax-Ukraine (27 November 2009)</ref>

Following his electoral defeat in 2004, Yanukovych led the main opposition party against the Tymoshenko government made up of Yushchenko's Our Ukraine, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, and Oleksandr Moroz's Socialist Party. This government was marred by growing conflict between Yushchenko and Tymoshenko. Yanukovych's Party of Regions support allowed for the establishment of Yuriy Yekhanurov's government in late 2005. {{Citation needed|date=February 2010}}

In 2005, the Party of Regions signed a collaboration agreement with the Russian political party United Russia.<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/53358/ "Party of Regions hopes for strengthening collaboration with 'United Russia' party"], ''Kyiv Post'' (22 November 2009) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120523182011/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/53358/ |date=23 May 2012 }}</ref> In 2008, Yanukovych spoke at a congress of the United Russia party.<ref name=URussia/><ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/31075/print/ "Yanukovych to participate in congress of United Russia party in Moscow"], ''Kyiv Post'' (20 November 2008) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110205084232/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/31075/print/ |date=5 February 2011 }}</ref>

===Return to government=== ====2006 election==== {{see|2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election}} Following the resignation of his head of administration Oleksandr Zinchenko, president Yushchenko dismissed Yulia Tymoshenko from the post of Prime Minister and appointed Yuriy Yekhanurov as head of a technocratic government which acted until the new parliamentary election.<ref name=jnsm>{{Cite web|title=Second government of Viktor Yanukovych|author=Yana Prymachenko|date=4 August 2018|url=https://www.jnsm.com.ua/h/0804U/|access-date=16 September 2025|language=uk}}</ref>

In January 2006, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine started an official investigation of the allegedly false acquittal of the criminal convictions which Yanukovych received in his youth. Yuriy Lutsenko, the head of the ministry, announced that forensic tests proved the forgery of the respective documents (issued in instead of 1978) and initially claimed that lack of the formal acquittal precluded Yanukovych from running for the seat in the 2006 parliamentary election.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.korrespondent.net/display_print.php?arid=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723173446/http://www.korrespondent.net/display_print.php?arid=|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 July 2011|title=Lutsenko accepts the fact of falsification with the clearing of charges on Yanukovych |work=Korrespondent|language=ru|access-date= 12 April 2015}}</ref> thumb|Percentage of votes for the Party of Regions in the 2006 parliamentary election However, the latter statement was corrected within days by Lutsenko, who conceded that the outcome of the investigation into the legality of the Yanukovych's acquittal could not affect his eligibility to run for the parliament seat since the deprivation of his civil rights due to the past convictions would have expired anyway due to the statute of limitations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.korrespondent.net/main/|title=Yanukovych can go to the elections, even with falsifications |work=Korrespondent|language=ru|access-date= 12 April 2015}}</ref> Yanukovych's Party of Regions won the 2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election, and Yanukovych returned to premiership when he was appointed to the position of prime minister by Yushchenko in August 2006.<ref name="Ref_l">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5242860.stm Ukraine comeback kid in new deal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819011159/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5242860.stm |date=19 August 2018 }} 4 August 2006</ref>

In 2006, a criminal charge was made for the falsification of documents regarding the retraction of Yanukovych's prior conviction. According to ''Rossiyskaya Gazeta'' two documents had been forged regarding Yanukovych's robbery in association with rape and assault and battery. The signature of the judge for these documents in Yanukovych's retraction was also reportedly forged.<ref name="Gorina"/><ref name="polit.ru"/>

====Second premiership (2006–2007)==== {{further|Second Yanukovych government}} [[File:Vladimir Putin and Viktor Yanukovych in 2006.jpg|right|thumb|Russian president Vladimir Putin meets Prime Minister Yanukovych during a visit to Kyiv (22 December 2006).]] On 4 August 2006, one day after the signing of the Universal of National Unity by the majority of Ukraine's political parties, Yanukovych was appointed Prime Minister as representative of the "Anti-crisis coalition" created by the Party of Regions, the Socialist Party of Ukraine and the Communists. The Universal declared the plans of the new government to respect the citizens' rights and freedoms and to reform the law enforcement and justice systems, as well as the economy. It promoted Ukraine's course for European integration and membership in the World Trade Organization and NATO, with the last point having to be approved by a popular referendum. At the same time, the plan proclaimed Ukraine's co-operation with the Common Economic Space.<ref name=jnsm/>

On the very day of Yanukovych's appointment, the Verkhovna Rada approved a law, which prevented the Constitutional Court from putting in question the Constitutional reform of 2004, according to which the president only had a right to appoint two ministers in the cabinet. Nevertheless, 9 representatives of Yushchenko's Our Ukraine - People's Self-Defense Bloc entered Yanukovych's government, compared to 14 ministers appointed by the Party of Regions.

====2007 election and loss of power==== thumb|Percentage of votes for the Party of Regions during the 2007 election {{further|2007 Ukrainian political crisis|2007 Ukrainian parliamentary election}} Soon after the establishment of his government, Yanukovych's supporters started attempts to "squeeze out" Yushchenko's allies from the cabinet, and worked to further increase the powers of Prime Minister. Recognizing this as a violation of the Universal of National Unity, on 2 April 2007 Yushchenko signed a decree on the dissolution of the parliament, appointing early parliamentary elections for 30 September.<ref name=jnsm/>

On 25 May 2007, Yanukovych was assigned the post of appointed chairman of the Government Chiefs Council of the Commonwealth of Independent States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.for-ua.com/news/2007/05/25/.html|title=Viktor Yanukovych was appointed chairman of the Government Chiefs Council of the CIS|work=for-ua|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140409120428/http://en.for-ua.com/news/2007/05/25/.html|archive-date=9 April 2014}}</ref>

In the 2007 Ukrainian parliamentary election political forces supportive of Yulia Tymoshenko achieved a majority of votes, which resulted in her second appointment as Prime Minister on 18 December 2007.<ref name=jnsm/><ref>{{Cite web|title=Second government of Yulia Tymoshenko|author=Yana Prymachenko|date=15 December 2017|url=https://www.jnsm.com.ua/h/1218T/|access-date=16 September 2025|language=uk}}</ref>

===2010 Presidential campaign and election=== {{Main|2010 Ukrainian presidential election}}

[[File:Crowd 25dec09 3443.JPG|thumb|Supporters of Viktor Yanukovych in Dnipropetrovsk, December 2009]] thumb|Percentage of total national vote for Yanukovych in the 2nd round of 2010 presidential election (48.95%) In 2009, Yanukovych announced his intent to run for president in the then upcoming presidential election.<ref name="unian.net">{{cite news|title=Yanukovych tops list of presidential candidates in Ukraine – poll|url=http://www.unian.net/eng/news/news-318868.html|agency=Ukrainian Independent Information Agency|date=2 June 2009|access-date=13 June 2009}}</ref> He was endorsed by the Party of Regions<ref name="Yanukovych_president">{{cite web |url=http://www.ukranews.com/eng/article/227204.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130105103841/http://www.ukranews.com/eng/article/227204.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 January 2013 |title=Party of Regions Nominates Yanukovych As Its Presidential Candidate |date=23 October 2009 |access-date=12 April 2015}}</ref> and the Youth Party of Ukraine.<ref>[https://archive.today/20130419021121/http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/27070/ "Ukraine's Youth Party to support Yanukovych at elections, party's congress decides"], Interfax-Ukraine (7 December 2009)</ref>

Minister of Internal Affairs Yuriy Lutsenko accused Yanukovych of financial fraud during the campaign.<ref>[http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/27252/ "Lutsenko accuses Yanukovych of giving false data in his income declaration"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120515212903/http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/27252/ |date=15 May 2012 }}, Interfax-Ukraine (8 December 2009)</ref> Yanukovych's campaign was expected to have cost $100 to $150 million.<ref name=LOmoney/>

On 11 December 2009, Yanukovych called for his supporters to go to Maidan Nezalezhnosti, Kyiv's Independence Square, in case of election fraud.<ref>[http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/27579/ "Yanukovych vows to gather people on Maidan if election results are rigged"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120515212650/http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/27579/ |date=15 May 2012 }}, Interfax-Ukraine (11 December 2009)</ref>

Early vote returns from the first round of the election held on 17 January showed Yanukovych in first place with 35.8% of the vote.<ref name="wsj.com">{{cite news|title=Ukrainian Presidential Election Set for Runoff|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704541004575010390901914042?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=18 January 2010|access-date=18 January 2010 | first=James | last=Marson}}</ref> He faced a 7 February 2010 runoff against Tymoshenko, who finished second (with 24.7% of the vote). After all ballots were counted, the Ukrainian Central Election Commission declared that Yanukovych won the runoff election with 48.95% of the vote compared with 45.47% for Tymoshenko.<ref name="2010results">{{in lang|uk}}[http://www.cvk.gov.ua/vp2010/wp300pt001f01=701.html "Regular elections of the President of Ukraine 17/01/2010"], Central Election Commission of Ukraine {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100121015545/http://www.cvk.gov.ua/vp2010/wp300pt001f01%3D701.html |date=21 January 2010 }}</ref> Election observers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said there were no indications of serious fraud and described the vote as an "impressive display" of democracy.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/feb/08/viktor-yanukovych-ukraine-president-election | title=Yanukovych set to become president as observers say Ukraine election was fair | website=TheGuardian.com | date=8 February 2010 }}</ref> Tymoshenko withdrew her subsequent legal challenge of the result.<ref>[http://www.tymoshenko.ua/en/article/vu8az6s6 "Yulia Tymoshenko will not challenge election results in Supreme Court"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018204137/http://www.tymoshenko.ua/en/article/vu8az6s6 |date=18 October 2015 }}, Official website of Yulia Tymoshenko (20 February 2009)</ref> Tad Devine, an associate of Rick Gates and Paul Manafort, wrote Yanukovych's victory speech.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/3700481 |title=Как Пол Манафорт сделал Виктора Януковича президентом Украины: "Радио "Свободная Европа"/Радио "Свобода"" опубликовало документы о деятельности консультанта |trans-title=How Paul Manafort made Viktor Yanukovych President of Ukraine: Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty published documents on the consultant's activities |language=ru |work=Коммерсантъ |date=29 July 2018 |access-date=7 August 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=Christopher |last2=Eckel |first2=Mike |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/on-eve-of-trial-a-deeper-glimpse-into-how-paul-manafort-elected-ukraine-s-president/29394601.html |title=On The Eve Of His Trial, A Deeper Look Into How Paul Manafort Elected Ukraine's President |work=Radio Free Europe |date=27 July 2018 |access-date=7 August 2021}}</ref>

==Presidency: 2010–2014== ===Inauguration=== Ukraine's parliament had (on 16 February) fixed 25 February 2010 for the inauguration of Yanukovych as president.<ref name="kyivpost.com">[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/59629/ "Update: Ukraine's Yanukovych to be sworn in on Feb. 25"], ''Kyiv Post'' (16 February 2010) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120612031056/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/59629/ |date=12 June 2012 }}</ref> Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko signed a decree endorsing a plan of events related to Yanukovych's inauguration on 20 February 2010.<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/60048/ Yushchenko endorses plan of presidential inauguration events], ''Kyiv Post'' (20 February 2010) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120612031541/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/60048/ |date=12 June 2012 }}</ref> Yushchenko also congratulated and wished Yanukovych "to defend Ukrainian interests and democratic traditions" at the presidential post.<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/60047/ Yushchenko congratulates Yanukovych on being legally elected Ukrainian president], ''Kyiv Post'' (20 February 2010) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120612031549/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/60047/ |date=12 June 2012 }}</ref>

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus at Yanukovych's invitation conducted a public prayer service at Kyiv Pechersk Lavra before Yanukovych's presidential inauguration.<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/60051/ Patriarch Kirill to conduct prayer service in Kyiv before Yanukovych's inauguration], ''Kyiv Post'' (February 2010) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120612031602/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/60051/ |date=12 June 2012 }}</ref> Kirill also attended the inauguration{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} along with High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, United States National Security Advisor James Jones and speaker of the Russian parliament Boris Gryzlov.<ref name=Ashton/><ref>[http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20100225/tpl-new-ukraine-president-pledges-neutra-ee974b3.html New Ukraine president pledges neutrality], Agence France-Presse (24 February 2010) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100302233729/http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20100225/tpl-new-ukraine-president-pledges-neutra-ee974b3.html |date=2 March 2010 }}</ref>

Yanukovych's immediate predecessor, Yushchenko, did not attend the ceremony, nor did the Prime Minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, and her party, Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko.<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/60438/ Half-empty chamber greets Ukraine's new president], ''Kyiv Post'' (25 February 2010) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120612031635/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/60438/ |date=12 June 2012 }}</ref>

===First steps as president=== [[File:Medvedev-Yanukovych talk 5 March 2010 02.jpg|thumb|With Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, 5 March 2010]] On 3 March 2010, Yanukovych suspended his membership in the Party of Regions as he was barred by the Constitution from heading a political party while president,<ref>[https://archive.today/20120711140436/http://en.rian.ru/exsoviet/20100423/158710254.html Ukraine's Party of Regions to choose new leader], RIA Novosti (23 April 2010)</ref> and handed over leadership in the party and its parliamentary faction to Mykola Azarov.<ref name="Azarovleader">[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/60929/ Yanukovych suspends his membership in Party of Regions, hands over party leadership to Azarov], ''Kyiv Post'' (3 March 2010) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120614035848/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/60929/ |date=14 June 2012 }}</ref> The predominant expectation of political experts following Yanukovych's election as president was that he would likely pursue a Kuchma-style "multi-vector" policy internationally, and that his presidential authority would be weakened as a result of the constitutional amendments made in 2004. However, those forecasts were made invalid by the swift concentration of power by the president and his Party of Regions, which some analysts interpreted as a parliamentary coup d'etat and made comparisons to the historical Nazi policies of ''Gleichschaltung''.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|pages=10–11}}</ref>

===Establishment of the Azarov government=== {{further|First Azarov government}} thumb|Prime Minister Mykola Azarov soon after his appointment in April 2010 The Party of Regions and its satellites - the Communist Party of Ukraine and the Lytvyn Bloc - did not have a parliamentary majority in order to create a new government. The Ukrainian Constitution stipulated that a government should be created by a coalition of parliamentary fractions, not by individual members of parliament. Those amendments had been introduced in 2004 in order to limit political corruption. As a result, the only legal way for the Party of Regions to create a government was to establish a coalition either with the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc or with Yushchenko's "Our Ukraine", or to announce early parliamentary elections.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|page=11}}</ref>

However, Yanukovych and his supporters opted for a different way of forming a parliamentary majority: at the initiative of the Party of Regions, the parliament amended the law by allowing separate members of parliament to be accepted into the coalition on an individual basis, even if they belonged to opposition. As a result, the new "Stability and Reforms" coalition was formed by the fraction of the Party of Regions, Lytvyn Bloc and the Communists, as well as 12 members of parliament from the fractions of Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and "Our Ukraine", including notable figures such as Ivan Plyushch, Oleksandr Omelchenko, Ihor Rybakov and Ihor Palytsia. The latter became known under the derogatory term ''tushky'' ({{langx|uk|тушки}}, literally - "carcasses").<ref>{{Cite web|title=Коротка історія «тушок»|author=Volodymyr Semkiv|date=1 April 2016|url=https://zbruc.eu/node/49783|access-date=15 September 2025}}</ref> The way in which the new coalition was formed was deemed by observers to be illegal and anti-constitutional.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|page=172}}</ref>

Despite controversy, Ukrainian lawmakers formed the new coalition on 11 March 2010 which included Lytvyn Bloc, Communist Party of Ukraine and Party of Regions that led to the Azarov Government.<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/61450/ Ukrainian parliament creates new coalition], ''Kyiv Post'' (11 March 2010) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605074447/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/61450/ |date=5 June 2011 }}</ref> 235 deputies from the 450-member parliament signed the coalition agreement.<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/61441/ Update: Former finance minister nominated as Ukraine prime minister], ''Kyiv Post'' (11 March 2010) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605060717/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/61441/ |date=5 June 2011 }}</ref> The decision was approved by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and accepted by Western governments and the Ukrainian opposition, with the previous prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko agreeing to step down.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|pages=15–16}}</ref>

According to Roman Zabzaliuk, a former member of parliament from Yulia Tymoshenko's Bloc, who later switched sides and entered the governing coalition, each individual parliamentarian joining the pro-Yanukovych faction in Verkhovna Rada was promised a one-time payment of $450,000 plus an additional monthly allowance of $20,000 in cash for "proper voting".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|page=116}}</ref>

===Concentration of power=== [[File:Baner NPD.JPG|thumb|No to police state demonstration in Kyiv, June 2010]] ====Subordination of government branches==== Within a few months, Yanukovych and his team had effectively subordinated all branches of Ukrainian government and marginalized the opposition. The new political regime was seen by some as a continuation of Leonid Kuchma's "blackmail state".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|page=12}}</ref> Judiciary was de-facto subject to the authorities, with Prosecutor-General Viktor Pshonka himself openly claiming to be a member of the "president's team". This allowed authorities to selectively apply law to the political opposition.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|pages=39–40}}</ref> According to the newspaper ''Ukraina Moloda'', half a year after Yanukovych's election Ukraine was closer to becoming a police state than it had ever been since independence.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|page=33}}</ref>

The reform of administration launched during the first year of Yanukovych's presidency resulted in the reshuffling of a number of government agencies, but was also seen as a way to further concentrate power in the president's hands.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|page=34}}</ref>

====Constitutional amendments==== On 25 June 2010, Yanukovych criticised 2004 amendments in the Ukrainian Constitution which weakened presidential powers such as control over naming government ministers, passing those functions to parliament.<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/71031/ Yanukovych criticises limits on his power], ''Kyiv Post'' (25 June 2010) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100730022320/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/71031/ |date=30 July 2010 }}</ref>

In autumn of 2010 the Constitutional Court of Ukraine cancelled the 2004 amendments to the Ukrainian Constitution. This step was claimed to remove the last legal obstacle on the way to the complete concentration of power in President Yanukovych's hands.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|page=24}}</ref> Nevertheless, during the 2011 World Economic Forum, Yanukovych called Ukraine "one of the leaders on democratic development in Eastern Europe".<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/95846/ Yanukovych: Ukraine a leading country in Eastern Europe], ''Kyiv Post'' (28 January 2010) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303153341/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/95846/ |date=3 March 2011 }}</ref>

In May 2012, Yanukovych set up the Constitutional Assembly of Ukraine, a special auxiliary agency under the President for drawing up bills of amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine; the president then can table them in parliament.<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/content/politics/klitschko-udar-wont-join-work-of-constitutional-assembly-317307.html Klitschko:UDAR won't join work of Constitutional Assembly], ''Kyiv Post'' (7 December 2012)</ref>

====Local elections==== thumb|Results of the 2010 Ukrainian local elections, with regional and city councils dominated by the Party of Regions in blue The local election, which took place on 31 October, was preceded by the introduction of changes in electoral law and replacement of local governors, electoral commission officials and national media managers with pro-government appointees.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|page=27}}</ref>

During the electoral campaign for the 2010 local elections, the police encroached on the people's constitutional right for peaceful protest, the first such instance since the Orange Revolution. Independent journalists, scholars, activists and opposition figures were also harassed by state authorities, with a number of them being imprisoned or blackmailed into dropping their candidaces. In some cases, bogus political parties were created and registered under the same name as oppositional forces. As a result, Yulia Tymoshenko's "Batkivshchyna", the main rival of the incumbent authorities, was effectively denied participation in several crucial regions during the local election. This led to the rise of the far-right Svoboda party, whose popularity was mostly concentrated in Western Ukraine and produced less challenges to the Party of Regions on a national level.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|pages=28–29}}</ref>

According to independent observers, the election didn't meet standards for openness and fairness. As a result of the vote, the Party of Regions received a plurality of 36%, but got a chance to create a majority in many regions by co-opting independents and entering coalitions with other parties.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|pages=30–31}}</ref>

===State of the rule of law=== [[File:7 Line in Luhansk.jpg|thumb|An anti-Yanukovych inscription on a fence in Luhansk, accusing the president of ties to organized crime, 2011]] Yanukovych had been elected on promises of returning stability, but the state of Ukraine under his rule was described as a "well-ordered lawlessness" modelled on the "manageable democracy" of neighbouring Russia. Under Yanukovych's rule, chief organs responsible for security, most notably the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), were headed by oligarch appointees. Among controversial decisions which were deemed to have negative consequences to the rule of law in Ukraine was the release of FSB agent Vladimir Noskov, who had attempted to kidnap a Ukrainian security officer.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|pages=18–20}}</ref> The number of injuries and suspicious deaths reported as "suicides" significantly rose in Ukrainian prisons in the months after Yanukovych's installment.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|page=45}}</ref>

====Persecution of opposition==== In December 2010 several opposition members of parliament were severely beaten by a group of Party of Regions members in the Verkhovna Rada building. Soon after the event one of the party's leaders Mykhailo Chechetov denied the fact of the assault and claimed that the opposition MPs "broke their own heads against the wall" and were now trying to accuse their opponents.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|page=45}}</ref>

In early November 2011, Yanukovych claimed that "arms are being bought in the country and armed attacks on government agencies are being prepared."<ref name="paranoid president"/> These claims were met with disbelief.<ref name="paranoid president"/> Yanukovych and the Party of Regions were accused of trying to create a "controlled democracy" in Ukraine and as a means to this were trying to "destroy" main opposition party BYuT, but both denied these charges.<ref name="Umland">[http://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/andreas-umland/ukraine-right-wing-politics-is-genie-out-of-bottle Ukraine right-wing politics: is the genie out of the bottle?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014083516/http://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/andreas-umland/ukraine-right-wing-politics-is-genie-out-of-bottle |date=14 October 2017 }}, openDemocracy.net (3 January 2011)</ref><ref name="bbc.co.uk">[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12171740 Ukraine viewpoint: Novelist Andrey Kurkov], BBC News (13 January 2011)</ref><ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12042561 Ukraine ex-PM Tymoshenko charged with misusing funds], BBC News (20 December 2010)</ref><ref>[http://www.osw.waw.pl/en/publikacje/osw-commentary/2010-09-29/party-regions-monopolises-power-ukraine#_ftn5 The Party of Regions monopolises power in Ukraine], Centre for Eastern Studies (29 September 2010)</ref><ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-12219712 Ukraine launches battle against corruption], BBC News (18 January 2011)</ref><ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/business-11549381 Ukrainians' long wait for prosperity], BBC News (18 October 2010)</ref><ref>[http://pulitzercenter.org/blog/news-points/ukraine-press-censorship-journalists-uncertain-future Ukraine:Journalists Face Uncertain Future] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005204055/http://pulitzercenter.org/blog/news-points/ukraine-press-censorship-journalists-uncertain-future |date=5 October 2011 }}, Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting (27 October 2010)</ref><ref>[http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/108194/yanukovych-tells-u-k-39-s-cameron-no-fears-for-ukraine-39-s-democracy.html Yanukovych Tells U.K's Cameron No Fears for Ukraine's Democracy]{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, Turkish Weekly (6 October 2010) {{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200422202643/http://www.partyofregions.org.ua/eng/pr-east-west/4d394880be20c/ Yulia Kovalevska:Only some bankrupt politicians try to use the Day of Unification with the aim of self-PR], Party of Regions official website (21 January 2011) {{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>[http://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/19116.html President: Ukraine must fulfill its commitments to Council of Europe], president.gov.ua (13 January 2011) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140127052632/http://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/19116.html |date=27 January 2014 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/69573/ Our Ukraine comes to defense of Tymoshenko, Lutsenko, Didenko, Makarenko in statement] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120603124713/http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/69573/ |date=3 June 2012 }}, Interfax-Ukraine (25 May 2011)</ref> One frequently cited example of Yanukovych's attempts to centralize power is the 2011 sentencing of Yulia Tymoshenko, which was condemned by Western governments as potentially being politically motivated.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ukraine.usembassy.gov/government-statement-tymoshenko.html |title=U.S. Government Statement of Concern about Arrest of Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko |access-date=8 February 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304025646/http://ukraine.usembassy.gov/government-statement-tymoshenko.html |archive-date=4 March 2016}} US Embassy, Kyiv, (24 September 2011)</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-14459446|title=Q&A: Ukraine's Yulia Tymoshenko on trial|work=BBC News |date=11 October 2011}}</ref> Other high-profile political opponents under criminal investigation include Kuchma,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/112105/ |title=Kyiv Post (24 September 2011) |work=Kyiv Post |date=2 September 2011 |access-date=28 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111026090827/https://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/112105/ |archive-date=26 October 2011 }}</ref> Bohdan Danylyshyn, Ihor Didenko,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/a-stockholm-conspiracy-the-underbelly-of-ukrainian-gas-dealings-a-736745.html|title=A Stockholm Conspiracy: The Underbelly of Ukrainian Gas Dealings|first=Christian|last=Neef|newspaper=Der Spiegel |date=30 December 2010|via=www.spiegel.de}}</ref> Anatoliy Makarenko,<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/79199/] ''Kyiv Post'' (24 September 2011) {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501164435/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/79199/|date=1 May 2011}}</ref> and Valeriy Ivaschenko.<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/112081/] ''Kyiv Post'' (24 September 2011) {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504065206/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/112081/|date=4 May 2012}}</ref>

According to Yanukovych (on 4 February 2011), "[M]any lies [have been] told and attempts made to misinform the international community and ordinary people in Ukraine about the true state of affairs in the country." He also stated, "[A] crushing blow delivered under [my] rule to corruption and bureaucracy has been met with resistance".<ref name="misinform">[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/96507/ Yanukovych: 'Some misinform international community about Ukraine'], ''Kyiv Post'' (7 February 2011) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110314144736/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/96507/ |date=14 March 2011 }}</ref> He stated in February 2012 that the trial of Tymoshenko and other former officials "didn't meet European standards and principles".<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/123159/ Trials of Tymoshenko, other officials fall short of European standards, Yanukovych admits], ''Kyiv Post'' (25 February 2012) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309223213/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/123159/ |date=9 March 2012 }}</ref>

====Press censorship==== {{Main|Freedom of the press in Ukraine}}

[[File:RWB-PressFreedomIndex-WorldMap.svg|upright 1.4|thumb|'''2014 Press Freedom Index'''<ref name="RWBPFIndex">[https://rsf.org/en/ranking/2014 "Press Freedom Index 2014"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140214120404/http://rsf.org/index2014/en-index2014.php |date=14 February 2014 }}, Reporters Without Borders, 11 May 2014</ref> {{legend-col |{{legend|#F9D|Very serious situation}} |{{legend|#FDD|Difficult situation}} |{{legend|#FFD|Noticeable problems}} |{{legend|#ccffcc|Satisfactory situation}} |{{legend|#98FB98|Good situation}} |{{legend|#e0e0e0|Not classified / No data}} }} Ukraine moved from "noticeable problems" 89th place in 2009, to "difficult situation" 126th place in 2013]] As president, Yanukovych stated in early February 2010 that he would support the freedom of speech of journalists and protect their interests.<ref>[https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20140826014932/http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/yanukovych-says-he-will-protect-freedom-of-speech--64491.html Yanukovych says he will protect freedom of speech and interests of journalists], ''Kyiv Post'' (10 February 2010)</ref> During spring 2010 Ukrainian journalists and Reporters Without Borders complained of censorship by Yanukovych's Presidential Administration; despite statements by Yanukovych how deeply he valued press freedom and that 'free, independent media that must ensure society's unimpeded access to information.'<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/66011/ 1+1 TV journalists claim censorship of news reports], ''Kyiv Post'' (6 May 2009) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606011801/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/66011/ |date=6 June 2011 }}</ref>

Anonymous journalists stated early May 2010 that they were voluntarily tailoring their coverage so as not to offend the Yanukovych administration and the Azarov Government.<ref name="press-freedom">[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/66009/ Journalists, in defensive crouch, swing news coverage to Yanukovych's favor], ''Kyiv Post'' (6 May 2009) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713180409/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/66009/ |date=13 July 2011 }}</ref> The Azarov Government,<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/66616/ Semynozhenko: No examples of censorship on Ukrainian TV channels], ''Kyiv Post'' (13 May 2009) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110806130141/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/66616/ |date=6 August 2011 }}</ref> the Presidential Administration and Yanukovych himself denied being involved with censorship.<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/66596/ Opposition benefiting from topic of censorship at mass media, says Hanna Herman], ''Kyiv Post'' (13 May 2009) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606044747/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/66596/ |date=6 June 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{in lang|uk}} [http://www.bbc.co.uk/ukrainian/ukraine/2010/05/100513_yanukovych_marta_oh.shtml Янукович: Україна готова, якщо Європа готова], BBC Ukrainian (10 May 2010)</ref> In a press conference 12 May 2010 President Yanukovych's representative in the Parliament Yury Miroshnychenko stated that Yanukovych was against political repression for criticism of the regime.<ref>[http://zik.com.ua/en/news/2010/05/12/228377 Yanukovych bears no grudges against Tymoshenko], Z I K (12 May 2010)</ref>

The first Year of Yanukovych's presidency saw a significant increase in the number of crimes against journalists, as reported by the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group. Many reporters would be illegally searched, detained and interrogated by authorities.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|page=45}}</ref>

====Vote rigging allegations==== The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe confirmed witness accounts of voters being blocked from access to polls and being attacked along with local election officials who tried to frustrate the Berkut's practice of falsifying voters' ballots in favor of Yanukovych's Party of Regions candidates. Individual cases have been reported of citizens grouping together and fighting back against the Berkut in order to preserve election integrity and results.<ref name="BRP18Feb">{{cite news|author=Taras Kuzio|url=http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=40108|title=Berkut Riot Police Used to Falsify Ukrainian Parliamentary Elections|work=Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 9 Issue: 209|publisher=The Jamestown Foundation|date=14 November 2012|access-date=18 October 2015}}</ref> Upon coming to power Yanukovych had reversed oversight measures established during the Yushchenko administration to restrain the Berkut's abuse of citizens whereupon the special force "upped its brutality."<ref name="Business Insider">{{cite web | url=http://www.businessinsider.com/meet-the-ukraines-brutal-berkut-police-force-2014-1 | title=Why Ukraine's Berkut Special Police Force Is So Scary |author=Harrison Jacobs| website=Business Insider |date=27 January 2014 | access-date=1 February 2014}}</ref>

====Reports of corruption and cronyism==== {{Quote box|width=40%|align=right|quote=Bureaucracy and corruption are today hiding behind democratic slogans in Ukraine. The Ukrainian nation is wise and it will understand. Because a small handful of people, who have been plundering the country for 20 years is only a handful, from which the whole society, the whole state and our image in the world have been suffering. The interest of the Ukrainian nation is that the practice was put an end to... The country has to change. We need to reverse our approaches 180 degrees, and we will do it. The Ukrainian nation stimulates us to.<ref name=misinform/>|source=-- President Yanukovych in Warsaw 4 February 2011, speaking about Ukrainian corruption and cronyism}} Yanukovych has been criticized for "massive" corruption and cronyism.<ref name="SL-OD">{{cite web|url=http://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/serhij-leschenko/yanukovych-luxury-residence-and-money-trail-that-leads-to-london|title=Yanukovych, the luxury residence and the money trail that leads to London |first=Sergii |last=Leshchenko|date=8 June 2012|publisher=Open Democracy|access-date=30 January 2014}}</ref><ref name="AslundBBC">{{cite news|first=Anders |last=Aslund |author-link=Anders Åslund|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25323964|title=Ukraine crisis: Yanukovych and the tycoons|date=11 December 2013|work=BBC News|access-date=11 December 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine| url= http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/140491/alexander-j-motyl/yanukovych-must-go | title= Yanukovych Must Go Ukrainians Will Protest as Long as His Corrupt Regime Exists |first=Alexander J. |last=Motyl |magazine=Foreign Affairs | date=11 December 2013| publisher=The Council on Foreign Relations | access-date= 29 January 2014}}</ref><ref name="Kyiv Post online">{{cite web| url=http://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/op-ed/anti-corruption-action-center-calls-for-freeze-of-yanukovych-other-assets-abroad-335609.html | title= Anti-Corruption Action Center calls for freeze of Yanukovych, other assets abroad | date=27 January 2014| work=Kyiv Post | access-date= 30 January 2014}}</ref><ref name="Benjamin Bidder">{{cite web| url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/the-dubious-businees-of-ukraine-president-yanukovych-and-his-clan-a-833127.html| title= Profiting from Power? The Dubious Business of the Yanukovych Clan|first=Benjamin |last=Bidder |work=Spiegel Online International | date=16 May 2012| access-date=30 January 2014}}</ref> Ukraine under his rule was described as a "systemically corrupt" country. According to a 2010 report by Transparency International, 34% of respondents in Ukraine acknowledged paying a bribe at least once during the past year. At the same time, main institutions charged with eliminating corruption - the judiciary and the police - were perceived by the population as the most corrupt.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|pages=35–36}}</ref>

In February 2012 Yanukovych appointed Ihor Kalinin and Dmytro Salamatin as head of SBU and minister of defence respectively, despite both being known to have been Russian citizens in the past.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|pages=119–120}}</ref> Soon thereafter mass protests took place in relation to the murder of Oksana Makar in the southern city of Mykolaiv, after reports emerged that the murderers had been released due to their alleged ties to the government. This happened in the aftermath of a number of cases, where children and other relatives of important officials from Yanukovych's entourage would be given milder sentences after committing crimes.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|pages=123–130}}</ref>

By January 2013, more than half of the ministers appointed by Yanukovych were either born in the Donbas region or made some crucial part of their careers there, and Yanukovych has been accused of "regional cronyism" for his staffing of police, judiciary, and tax services "all over Ukraine" with "Donbas people".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://expres.ua/main/2012/01/31/59312 |title=Спецтеми | Експрес – онлайн |trans-title=Special topics | Express – online |language=ru |publisher=Expres.ua |access-date=28 December 2013}}</ref> Over 46% of the budget subventions for social and economic development was allotted to the Donbas region's Donetsk Oblast and Luhansk Oblast administrations – ₴0.62 billion ($76.2 million) versus ₴0.71 billion ($87.5 million) for the rest of the country.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.epravda.com.ua/columns/2012/12/24/352306/ |title=Бюджет-2013: золоті гори для сходу, заходу – мізер |work=Економічна правда |trans-title=Budget-2013: golden mountains for the east, west – meager |language=ru |publisher=Epravda.com.ua |access-date=28 December 2013}}</ref> Yanukovych's political clan has been often described by Ukrainian publicists as a "Donetsk mafia".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|page=81}}</ref>

Anders Åslund, a Swedish economist and Ukraine analyst, described the consolidation of Ukrainian economic power in the hands of a few "elite industrial tycoons", including Yanukovych's son Oleksandr. The exact distribution of wealth and precise weight of influence are difficult to gauge, but most of the country's richest men were afraid to cross the Yanukovich family, even in cases where their own economic interests favored an economically pro-EU Ukraine.<ref name="AslundBBC" />

The Yanukovych family, a group of young businessmen described as "robber capitalists", have been buying up both public and private businesses at "rock bottom" prices available in the stagnating economic conditions brought on by Yanukovych's economic policies."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/op-ed/yanukovych-opts-for-robber-capitalism-332326.html |title=Yanukovych opts for robber capitalism |newspaper=Kyiv Post |date=22 November 2013 |access-date=27 February 2014}}</ref> According to Åslund, one notable exception to the Yanukovych family's influence was Petro Poroshenko, who is described as "uncommonly courageous", although his confectionery empire is less susceptible to ruin by the substantial power the Yanukovych family wielded in the heavy industry sectors located in Yanukovych's geographic power base of Donetsk.<ref name="AslundBBC" />

Yanukovych had an estimated net worth of $12 billion,{{citation needed|date=March 2014}} and has been accused by Ukrainian officials of misappropriating funds from Ukraine's treasury. Arseniy Yatsenyuk has claimed that treasury funds of up to $70 billion were transferred to foreign accounts during Yanukovych's presidency. <ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.sky.com/story/1218041/ukraine-treasury-stripped-by-ousted-regime |website=Sky News |date=27 February 2014 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018204136/http://news.sky.com/story/1218041/ukraine-treasury-stripped-by-ousted-regime |archivedate=18 October 2015 |title=Ukraine Treasury 'Stripped' By Ousted Regime}}</ref> Authorities in Switzerland, Austria and Liechtenstein froze the assets of Yanukovych and his son Oleksander on 28 February 2014 pending a money laundering investigation. Yanukovych has denied that he embezzled funds and has said that his alleged foreign accounts do not exist.

Corporate raiding was rampant in Ukraine under Yanukovych's presidency.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|pages=130–134}}</ref> During that period, at least 7,000 Ukrainian companies were attacked by the oligarchic clan of Yanukovych (the so-called "Yanukovych Families"). This number includes both cases of the so-called Family entering the corporate rights of the firms they like by illegal methods, and "assaults" in order to obtain "tribute" – that is, commercial gain. This is evidenced by the data of the Anti-Raider Union of Entrepreneurs of Ukraine. The victims of Yanukovych's raider methods were offered to pay a regular "tribute" in the amount of 30–50% of the company's profits – or to cede ownership of it.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.transparency.org/en/press/transparency-international-calls-for-progress-in-the-investigation-yanukovy |title=TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL CALLS FOR PROGRESS IN THE INVESTIGATION YANUKOVYCH'S ASSETS}}</ref>

According to Yanukovych's former ally Taras Chornovil, a group of officials and businessmen close to Yanukovych, composed of Serhiy Lyovochkin, Valeriy Khoroshkovskyi, Dmytro Firtash and Yuriy Boyko, were involved in deals with Russian president Putin and criminal boss Semion Mogilevich related to the purchase of Russian gas.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|page=58}}</ref>

====Personal excesses==== thumb|Yanukovych's "Honka" house in Mezhyhirya residence, 2014 Yanukovych abandoned his estate Mezhyhirya when he fled the capital.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/23/viktor-yanukovych-ukraine-secret-documents | title=With Viktor Yanukovych gone, Ukraine hunts for secrets of former leader | website=TheGuardian.com | date=23 February 2014 | access-date=23 February 2014}}</ref> The estate is located in a former forest preserve on the outskirts of Kyiv.

Officially, Yanukovych claimed to own a modest home of roughly 250 square meters near the perimeter of the Mezhyhirya grounds, which he made available for journalist interviews. His actual residence, however, was a vast, enclosed estate of approximately 350 acres – nearly half the area of New York's Central Park.<ref>{{cite book |last=Karatnycky |first=Adrian |date=2024 |title=Battleground Ukraine: From Independence to the War with Russia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=psoFEQAAQBAJ&pg=PA147 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-26946-8 |page=147}}</ref>

He had acquired the property in 2007, according to critics, through a convoluted series of companies and transactions. Yanukovych did not reveal the price he paid, although he called it a "very serious price".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/66006/ |title=Ukrayinska Pravda exposes president's Mezhygirya deal |work=Kyiv Post |date=6 May 2009 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314151108/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/66006/ |archivedate=14 March 2012}}</ref> Mezhyhirya is estimated to have been sold for more than 75 million U.S. dollars.

In a feature with photos on Yanukovych's Mezhyhirya mansion, Serhiy Leshchenko notes "For most of [Yanukovych's] career he was a public servant or parliament deputy, where his salary never exceeded 2000 US dollars per month." Under a photo showing the new home's ornate ceiling, Leschenko remarks, "In a country where 35% of the population live under poverty line, spending 100,000 dollars on each individual chandelier seems excessive, to say the least." Crowned with a pure copper roof, the mansion was the largest wooden structure ever created by Finnish log home builder Honka, whose representative suggested to Yanukovych that it be nominated for the Guinness Book of Records.<ref name="SL-OD" />

The property contained a private zoo, underground shooting range, 18-hole golf course, tennis, and bowling. After describing the mansion's complicated ownership scheme, the article author noted, "The story of Viktor Yanukovych and his residence highlights a paradox. Having completely rejected such European values as human rights and democracy, the Ukrainian president uses Europe as a place to hide his dirty money with impunity."<ref name="SL-OD" />

Documents recovered from Yanukovych's compound show among other expenses $800 medical treatment for fish, $14,500 spent on tablecloths, and a nearly 42 million dollar order for light fixtures. Also recovered were files on Yanukovych's perceived enemies, especially media members, including beating victim Tetyana Chornovol. The cost of monitoring the mass media was reportedly $5.7 million just for the month of December 2010.<ref>{{cite news|title=Yanukovych Spent $800 on Fish Medical Treatment, Leaked Documents Show |url=http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/yanukovych-spent-800-on-fish-medical-treatment-leaked-documents-show/495245.html|newspaper=The Moscow Times|date=26 February 2014}}</ref>

When the former president departed, 35 cars and seven motorbikes were left behind. Kyiv's District Court seized 27 vintage cars in 2016 from the fleet stationed at Mezhyhirya, some worth more than $US 1 million.

Yanukovych told ''BBC Newsnight'' (in June 2015) that stories that Mezhyhirya cost the Ukrainian taxpayer millions of dollars were "political technology and spin" and that the estate did not belong to him personally; he claimed that the ostriches in the residence's petting zoo "just happened to be there"<ref name="vybbcij15">{{Cite news |last=Gatehouse |first=Gabriel |date=22 June 2015 |title=Ukraine crisis: Yanukovych regrets bloodshed in Kiev |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33224138 |access-date=28 April 2023}}</ref> and remarked "I supported the ostriches, what's wrong with that?".

===Economy, finance and social sphere=== ====Tax policy==== [[File:Vidsich 3.JPG|thumb|''Vidsich'' activists protesting Yanukovych's tax reform in 2010]] On 30 November 2010, Yanukovych vetoed a new tax code made by the Azarov Government and earlier approved by the Verkhovna Rada but protested against in rallies across Ukraine (one of the largest protests since the 2004 Orange Revolution).<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/91316/ Tax code protests intensify], ''Kyiv Post'' (26 November 2010) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212002356/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/91316/ |date=12 February 2012 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/91790/ Update: Yanukovych vetoes tax code after protests], ''Kyiv Post'' (30 November 2010) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110127081028/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/91790/ |date=27 January 2011 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/business/bus_general/detail/91755/ Yanukovych vetoes the tax code], ''Kyiv Post'' (30 November 2010) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419150849/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/business/bus_general/detail/91755/ |date=19 April 2012 }}</ref> Yanukovych signed a new tax code on 3 December 2010.<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/92043/ Yanukovych signs new tax code], ''Kyiv Post'' (3 December 2010) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110205155942/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/92043/ |date=5 February 2011 }}</ref>

====Domestic spending vs. debt====

Yanukovych's Party of Regions wanted to increase social benefits, and raise salaries and pensions.<ref>[http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/20423/ Yanukovych: Tymoshenko to use issue of increasing social benefits in her presidential campaign] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120515212954/http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/20423/ |date=15 May 2012 }}, Interfax-Ukraine (16 September 2009)</ref> In late 2009, a law that raised the minimum wage and pensions was passed in the Ukrainian Parliament. As a result of this, the International Monetary Fund suspended its 2008–2009 Ukrainian financial crisis emergency lending programme. According to the IMF, the law breached promises to control spending. During the 2010 presidential campaign, Yanukovych had stated he would stand by this law.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/59030/|title=Analysis: West seeks clarity in Ukraine to boost economy|newspaper=Kyiv Post|agency=Reuters|date=8 February 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110129124809/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/59030/|archive-date=29 January 2011}}</ref>

According to Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc member of parliament Oleh Shevchuk, Yanukovych broke this election promise just three days after the 2010 presidential election when only two lawmakers of Yanukovych's Party of Regions supported a bill to raise pensions for low-incomes.<ref>[http://zik.com.ua/en/news/2010/02/10/216142 Yanukovych back-tracks on his pre-election promises], Z I K (10 February 2010)</ref>

====Social policy==== A pension reform introduced under IMF pressure in 2010 foresaw a gradual increase in pension age: 55 to 60 years for women and 60 to 65 years for men. However, it failed to address the significant discrepancy between pensions received by privileged groups such as retired officials and pensions of ordinary citizens. During Yanukovych's rule no substantial taxation was imposed on real estate and luxury items, meanwhile price hikes and austerity measures seriously affected the lower stratum of the population.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|pages=34–35}}</ref>

Social benefit cuts for Chernobyl rescue workers, small business owners and veterans of the Soviet–Afghan War caused fierce protests in Kyiv in October/November 2011 by several thousand protesters.<ref name="paranoid president">[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/116724/ Creeping Paranoia], ''Kyiv Post'' (10 November 2011) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120428214837/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/116724/ |date=28 April 2012}}</ref><ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/gallery/album/1017/ Ukrainian protesters storm parliament], ''Kyiv Post'' (4 November 2011) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120201085052/http://www.kyivpost.com/gallery/album/1017/ |date=1 February 2012}}</ref>

===Energy policy=== ====Gas trade with Russia==== According to Yanukovych, relations between Ukraine and Russia in the gas sector were to be built "according to the rules of the market".<ref name="URussia">[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/53329/ Yanukovych calls for new format of Ukraine-EU dialog on collective security], ''Kyiv Post'' (21 November 2009) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120609121344/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/53329/ |date=9 June 2012 }}</ref><ref name="Euronews">[http://www.euronews.net/2009/10/12/it-is-necessary-to-restore-law-and-order-in-our-country/ "It is necessary to restore law and order in our country"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605040136/http://www.euronews.net/2009/10/12/it-is-necessary-to-restore-law-and-order-in-our-country/ |date=5 June 2011 }}, ''Euronews'' (12 October 2009)</ref> He saw the gas agreement signed in 2009 after the 2009 Russia-Ukraine gas dispute as very unprofitable for Ukraine and wanted to "initiate the discussion of the most urgent gas issues" after the 2010 presidential election.<ref name=neutral/> Yanukovych had promised before his election as Ukrainian President to "solve the issue" concerning the Russian Black Sea Fleet, currently stationed in the Ukrainian port Sevastopol, "in a way so that the interests of Russia or Ukraine would not be harmed".<ref>[http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/303574,ukraine-presidential-candidates-trade-warnings-promises--summary.html "Ukraine presidential candidates trade warnings, promises"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214212233/http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/303574,ukraine-presidential-candidates-trade-warnings-promises--summary.html |date=14 December 2013 }}, ''Earth Times'' (13 January 2010)</ref>

This led to the April 2010 Ukrainian–Russian Naval Base for Natural Gas treaty. Yanukovych also promised to create a consortium that would allow Russia to jointly operate Ukraine's gas transportation network and pledged to help Russia build the South Stream natural gas pipeline.<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/59046/ What Yanukovych presidency would mean for Ukraine], ''Kyiv Post'' (8 February 2010) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120609121416/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/59046/ |date=9 June 2012 }}</ref> As of June 2010, both did not happen.<ref name="fairytale"/>

====Downgrading uranium stock====

[[File:Dmitry Medvedev in the United States 14 April 2010-2.jpeg|thumb|Yanukovych, Nicolas Sarkozy and Dmitry Medvedev before the beginning of the Nuclear Security Summit, 2010]] During the 2010 Nuclear Security Summit, Yanukovych announced that Ukraine would give up its 90-kilogram stock of highly enriched uranium and convert its research reactors from highly enriched to low-enriched uranium. It intended to accomplish these goals by 2012.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/12/AR2010041202752.html |last=Wilson |first=Scott |title=Ukraine to Give up Highly Enriched Uranium, Convert Nuclear Reactors |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=12 April 2010 |access-date=12 April 2010}}</ref>

===Cultural and memorial policy=== ====Appointments in the sphere of culture==== Yanukovych's divisive stance in domestic issues, including controversial appointments and provocative decisions, led some analysts to call his policies Ukrainophobic.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|page=12}}</ref> Dmytro Tabachnyk, who was appointed as minister of education under Yanukovych, was described by analysts as an "outspoken Ukrainophobe", and his policies were blamed for the decrease in prestige of the Ukrainian language.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|page=46}}</ref> Hanna Herman, the deputy head of Yanukovych's presidential administration, acknowledged in an interview, that under his rule Ukrainian speakers were de-facto reduced to the position of second-rate citizens in comparison to Russophone Ukrainians.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|page=48}}</ref>

====Legacy of WW2====

Yanukovych stated that his "aim and dream" was to unify Ukraine, although in his opinion "there are already no borders between the East and West of the country today".<ref>[http://www.unian.net/eng/news/news-338335.html Yanukovych said about his big dream]. Ukrainian Independent Information Agency. (28 September 2009).</ref> He noted the importance of finding ways of reconciliation between Ukrainians fighting on opposite sides in World War II in his speech at the ceremony to mark Victory Day 2013.<ref name=Vday2013Ys/> In this speech he also expressed confidence that Nazi and Soviet totalitarianism of the past would never return.<ref name="Vday2013Ys">[http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/152272.html Yanukovych: We should find ways of reconciliation between all parties participating in World War II], Interfax-Ukraine (9 May 2013)</ref>

At the same time, Yanukovych's loyal majority in parliament engaged in actions which were evaluated as provocative and subversive to Ukrainian unity. On 21 April 2011 Verkhovna Rada adopted a proposal to hoist the Soviet red flag on all official buildings and sites during Victory Day celebrations alongside the national flag, despite the former banner's association with occupation, terror and genocide among many Ukrainians, especially in the western and central parts of the country. The decision was followed by clashes on 9 May in Lviv, which emerged between local nationalists and pro-Russian visitors from Odesa and Crimea.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|pages=61–62}}</ref> Yanukovych initially opted not to sign the decree on the red flag's official usage and condemned the violence in Lviv without blaming any of the sides in particular.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|page=65}}</ref> On 20 May he finally signed the parliamentary decision on the official use of red flags, but on 17 June it was deemed unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|page=67}}</ref>

=====Holodomor and Soviet repressions=====

[[File:Dmitry Medvedev in Kyiv - 17 May 2010.jpeg|thumb|right|upright|Yanukovych and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev on 17 May 2010 near Memorial to the Holodomor Victims in Kyiv]] The Soviet famine of 1932–33, called "Holodomor" in Ukrainian, claimed up to 10 million lives, mostly in Ukraine but also in some other parts of the Soviet Union, as peasants' food stocks were forcibly removed by Stalin's regime via the NKVD secret police.<ref>{{cite news |title=Holodomor: Memories of Ukraine's silent massacre |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-25058256 |work=BBC News |date=23 November 2013}}</ref><ref>"[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7111296.stm Ukraine remembers famine horror]". BBC News. 24 November 2007.</ref>

Yanukovych's stance on the Holodomor was: "Holodomor took place, was denounced and the international society gave an evaluation of the famine, but it was never labeled as a genocide of the Ukrainian people. Ukraine's attempts to do so by blaming one of our neighbors are unjust."{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} "The Holodomor was in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. It was the result of the policies of Stalin's totalitarian regime."<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/65137/ Yanukovych: Famine of 1930s was not genocide against Ukrainians], ''Kyiv Post'' (27 April 2010) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605192532/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/65137/ |date=5 June 2011 }}</ref> In 2003, he supported then President Kuchma's position that the Holodomor famine was genocide against Ukrainians.<ref name=changingpos/>

Yanukovych's press service claims that he does not approve of crimes of the KGB and their predecessors in Soviet times, however, in 2002, he wrote a foreword to a book by two ex-KGB agents endorsing the KGB and its predecessors, stating that the NKVD and Cheka "firmly stood on guard over the interests of our people and the state" and praised them for launching "a struggle against political extremism, sabotage and criminal activities." He also wrote that "Donbas Chekists under any conditions have done and do their high duty with honor".<ref name="changingpos">[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/119065/ In 2002, Yanukovych as Donetsk Oblast governor endorsed book glorifying Stalin-era secret police], ''Kyiv Post'' (16 December 2011) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211095150/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/119065/ |date=11 February 2012 }}</ref>

=====Russian as an official language=====

{{Further|Language policy in Ukraine}} Yanukovych stated in the past that he wanted Russian to become the second state language in Ukraine.<ref>[http://www.unian.net/eng/news/news-334266.html Yanukovych imagines how he signs law on Russian language], Ukrainian Independent Information Agency (3 September 2009)</ref> Currently Ukrainian is the only official language of Ukraine. On the other hand, he stated at a meeting with Taras Shevchenko National Prize winners in Kyiv on 9 March 2010 that "Ukraine will continue to promote the Ukrainian language as its only state language".<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/61283/ Yanukovych: Ukraine will not have second state language], ''Kyiv Post'' (9 March 2010) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605060236/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/61283/ |date=5 June 2011 }}</ref>

In a newspaper interview during the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election campaign, he stated that the status of Russian in Ukraine "is too politicized" and said that if elected president in 2010 he would "have a real opportunity to adopt a law on languages, which implements the requirements of the European Charter of regional languages". He said that this law would need 226 votes in the Ukrainian parliament (half of the votes instead of two-thirds of the votes needed to change the constitution of Ukraine) and that voters told him that the current status of Russian in Ukraine created "problems in the hospital, school, university, in the courts, in the office".<ref>{{in lang|ru}} [http://www.kommersant.ua/doc.html?docId=1289144 "Доверия к Тимошенко у меня нет и быть не может"], ''Kommersant'' (9 December 2009) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718160523/http://www.kommersant.ua/doc.html?docId=1289144 |date=18 July 2011 }}</ref>

Effective in August 2012, a new law on regional languages entitles any local language spoken by at least a 10% minority be declared official within that area.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/yanukovych-signs-language-bill-into-law-311230.html |title=Yanukovych signs language bill into law |work=Kyiv Post |date=8 August 2012 |access-date=26 January 2014}}</ref> On 23 February 2014, following the Revolution of Dignity, a bill was passed by the parliament which would have abolished the law on regional languages, making Ukrainian the sole state language at all levels.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/23/ukraine-crisis-western-nations-eu-russia |title=Western nations scramble to contain fallout from Ukraine crisis |date=24 February 2014 |access-date= 12 April 2015| work=The Guardian |first=Ian |last=Traynor}}</ref> This bill was blocked by acting president Turchynov, until a replacement bill is ready.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://en.ria.ru/world/20140303/188063675/Ukraines-2012-Language-Law-to-Stay-Until-New-Bill-Ready--Turchynov.html |title=Ukraine's 2012 Language Law to Stay Until New Bill Ready – Turchynov |date=3 March 2014 |access-date=12 April 2015 |agency=RIA Novosti |archive-date=13 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140313084712/http://en.ria.ru/world/20140303/188063675/Ukraines-2012-Language-Law-to-Stay-Until-New-Bill-Ready--Turchynov.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The 2012 law was ruled unconstitutional and was struck down by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in 2018, 4 years after the Euromaidan.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ccu.gov.ua/sites/default/files/docs/2-p_2018.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180302221823/http://www.ccu.gov.ua/sites/default/files/docs/2-p_2018.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 March 2018|title=Ухвалено Рішення Конституційного Суду України № 2-р/2018|publisher=Constitutional Court of Ukraine|language=uk|date=28 February 2018}}</ref>

=====Religion===== [[File:Lazarus (Shvets) in Khersonez 2013.jpeg|thumb|Yanukovych and Putin attending a moleben of the Russian Orthodox Church in Chersonesus, Crimea, 2013]] In a late July 2013 speech Yanukovych stated: "All churches and religious organizations are equal for the state. We respect the choice of our citizens and guarantee everyone's Constitutional right to freedom of religion. We will not allow the use of churches and religious organizations by some political forces for their narrow interests. This also refers to foreign centres through which religious organizations sometimes seek to affect the internal political situation in Ukraine. This is a matter of the state's national security".<ref>[http://ukrainianweek.com/Politics/86131 Mission: Impossible], The Ukrainian Week (6 August 2013)</ref>

Under Yanukovych's presidency instances of intimidation against Ukrainian priests and believers, aimed with forcing them to join the Moscow Patriarchate favoured by the president, were reported.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|page=73}}</ref>

===Foreign policy=== [[File:Secretary Clinton Is Greeted By Ukrainian President Yanukovych.jpg|thumb|U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is greeted by Yanukovych in Kyiv, Ukraine, on 2 July 2010.]] [[File:President Barack Obama talks with President Viktor Yanukovych (cropped).jpg|thumb|Barack Obama talks with President Viktor Yanukovych during a pull aside at the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit at the Coex Center in Seoul.]] [[File:Rousseff and Yanukovych 2011.jpg|thumb|Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff greets Yanukovych upon his arrival to the Planalto Palace in Brasília, Brazil, on 25 October 2011.]]

{{See also|List of international presidential trips made by Viktor Yanukovych}} [[File:Bronisław Komorowski and Viktor Yanukovych 03 - 20110203.jpg|thumb|Yanukovych with Polish president Bronisław Komorowski, 3 February 2011]]

====Relations with EU and NATO==== Yanukovych said, "Ukraine's integration with the EU remains our strategic aim", with a "balanced policy, which will protect our national interests both on our eastern border – I mean with Russia – and of course with the European Union".<ref name=roadmap/><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8391317.stm Ukraine's political cat-fight leaves voters cold], BBC News (2 December 2009)</ref> According to Yanukovych, Ukraine must be a "neutral state" which should be part of a "collective defence system which the European Union, NATO and Russia will take part in." Yanukovych wants Ukraine to "neither join NATO nor the CSTO".<ref name="neutral">{{cite news|url=http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/56539/|title=Yanukovych: Ukraine will remain a neutral state|newspaper=Kyiv Post|date=7 January 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100121145322/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/56539|archive-date=21 January 2010}}</ref> He stated on 7 January 2010 that Ukraine is ready to consider an initiative by Dmitry Medvedev on the creation of a new Europe collective security system<ref name=neutral/> stating "And we're ready to back Russia's and France's initiatives".<ref name=France/>

Yanukovych stated during the 2010 presidential election-campaign that the current level of Ukraine's cooperation with NATO was sufficient and that the question of the country's accession to the alliance was therefore not urgent.<ref name="France">[http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/29568/ Yanukovych describes current level of Ukraine's cooperation with NATO as sufficient] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120515211754/http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/29568/ |date=15 May 2012 }}, Interfax-Ukraine (12 January 2010)</ref> "The Ukrainian people don't currently support Ukraine's entry to NATO and this corresponds to the status that we currently have. We don't want to join any military bloc".<ref name=France/> On 27 May 2010 Yanukovych stated he considered Ukraine's relations with NATO as a partnership, "And Ukraine can't live without this [partnership], because Ukraine is a large country".<ref>[https://archive.today/20121206032722/http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/yanukovych-ukraine-currently-not-ready-to-join-nat-67830.html Yanukovych: Ukraine currently not ready to join NATO], ''Kyiv Post'' (27 May 2010)</ref>

Yanukovych's first foreign visit was to Brussels to visit the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, and the EU Foreign Affairs chief, Catherine Ashton.<ref name="Ashton">[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/60426/ Ukraine Yanukovych sets visits to Moscow, Brussels], ''Kyiv Post'' (25 February 2010) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120612031651/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/60426/ |date=12 June 2012 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/yanukovych-will-visit-eu-before-russia/400253.html Yanukovych Will Visit EU Before Russia], Moscow Times (24 February 2010)</ref> During the visit Yanukovych stated that there would be no change to Ukraine's status as a member of the NATO outreach program.<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/60720/ Ukraine's Yanukovych: EU ties a 'key priority'], ''Kyiv Post'' (1 March 2010) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120614034828/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/60720/ |date=14 June 2012 }}</ref>

====Relations with Russia==== In comparison to his predecessors, Yanukovych's foreign policy was characterized by a much stronger pro-Moscow orientation, which included signing of one-sided deals with Russia and rose the question of a possible Russian intelligence lobby in the Ukrainian government.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|pages=12–13}}</ref>

During his second foreign visit to Moscow in March, Yanukovych vowed to end years of acrimony with Russia, saying that ties between Russia and Ukraine "should never be the way they were for the past five years". He indicated that he was open to compromise with Russia on the Black Sea Fleet's future (this led to the April 2010 Ukrainian–Russian Naval Base for Natural Gas treaty), and reiterated that Ukraine would remain a "European, non-aligned state", referring to NATO membership.<ref>[http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=227513 Ukraine vows new page in ties with Russia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220225134518/https://www.thenews.com.pk/ |date=25 February 2022 }}, ''The News International'' (6 March 2010)</ref> Russian president Medvedev (April 2010{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}) and Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin (June 2010<ref name="HappyP">[https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20140826014855/http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/putin-satisfied-with-state-of-ukrainian-russian-re-71180.html Putin satisfied with state of Ukrainian-Russian relations], ''Kyiv Post'' (28 June 2010)</ref>) soon stated they noticed a big improvement in relations with Ukraine since Yanukovych's presidency.

Yanukovych rejected accusations that improvement of Ukrainian-Russian relations harmed relations with the European Union. "Our policy is directed to protection of our national interests. We do not live in a fairy tale and understand that our partners also defend their interests".<ref name="fairytale">[http://www.unian.net/eng/news/news-419230.html Yanukovych: we do not live in fairy tale], Ukrainian Independent Information Agency (2 February 2011)</ref> In February 2012, Yanukovych stated, referring to relations with Russia, "It is not wise to fall asleep next to a big bear".<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/123144/ Yanukovych gives rare and long television interview (VIDEO)], ''Kyiv Post'' (25 February 2012) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305112100/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/123144/ |date=5 March 2012 }}</ref>

On 3 June 2010, the Ukrainian parliament excluded, in a bill written by Yanukovych, with 226 votes,{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} Ukrainian membership of any military bloc, but allowed for co-operation with military alliances such as NATO.<ref name="radanonato">[http://euobserver.com/24/30212 Ukraine drops Nato membership bid], ''EUobserver'' (6 June 2010)</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/10229626.stm Ukraine's parliament votes to abandon Nato ambitions], BBC News (3 June 2010)</ref> A day later Yanukovych stated that the recognition of the independence of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Kosovo violates international law, "I have never recognized Abkhazia, South Ossetia or Kosovo's independence. This is a violation of international law".<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/68638/ Yanukovych: Recognition of independence of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Kosovo violates international law], ''Kyiv Post'' (4 June 2010) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418154703/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/68638/ |date=18 April 2012 }}</ref>

In May 2011 Ukraine's foreign ministry called its Russian counterpart to tone down "anti-Ukrainian hysteria" in the Russian media and blamed some Russian politicians of attempting to "divide peoples".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|page=65}}</ref> In June 2011 a "minor clash" emerged between Ukrainian and Russian PACE deputies in Strasbourg after the latter sponsored a resolution blaming Ukraine and four other European countries of "Neo-Nazism" and "right-wing radicalism". Both members of the Ukrainian opposition and MPs from the governing Party of Regions spoke against the document.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|page=69}}</ref>

====European integration==== Before his election Yanukovych stated that he wanted to create a free trade zone and visa-free regime with the EU as soon as possible.<ref>[http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/21007/ "Prospects for Ukraine's joining EU depend on EU's political decision, says Yanukovych"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120515212940/http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/21007/ |date=15 May 2012 }}, Interfax-Ukraine (28 September 2009)</ref> On 22 November 2010, the European Council and Ukraine announced "an action plan for Ukraine toward the establishment of a visa-free regime for short-stay travel".<ref name="roadmap">[https://www.rferl.org/a/2227271.html EU, Ukraine Agree On 'Road Map' For Visa-Free Travel], Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (22 November 2010)</ref> In May 2011, Yanukovych stated that he would strive for Ukraine to join the EU.<ref name="ineu2011">[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-25/yanukovych-drives-ukraine-toward-eu-as-russian-gas-deal-looms.html Yanukovych Drives Ukraine Toward EU as Russian Natural Gas Agreement Looms], Bloomberg L.P. (25 May 2011)</ref> Yanukovych's stance towards integration with the EU, according to ''The Economist'', led him to be "seen in Moscow as a traitor", a reversal of the 2004 presidential election where Moscow openly supported Yanukovych.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/europe/21590585-success-eastern-partnership-depends-ukraine-playing-east-against-west?fsrc=scn/fb/wl/pe/playingeastagainstwest |title=Charlemagne: Playing East against West |newspaper=The Economist|date=23 November 2013 |access-date=28 December 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Ian Traynor in Brussels |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/21/ukraine-suspends-preparations-eu-trade-pact |title=Ukraine suspends talks on EU trade pact as Putin wins tug of war |website=The Guardian |date=21 November 2013 |access-date=28 December 2013}}</ref>

===Crimean naval base=== [[File:Dmitry Medvedev in Kharkov - 21 April 2010-9.jpeg|thumb|Yanukovych signing the Kharkiv Pact with Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, 2010]] On 21 April 2010, in Kharkiv, Yanukovych and Medvedev signed the 2010 Ukrainian–Russian Naval Base for Natural Gas treaty, whereby the Russian lease on naval facilities in Crimea would be extended beyond 2017 by 25 years with an additional 5-year renewal option (to 2042–47) in exchange for a multi-year discounted contract to provide Ukraine with Russian natural gas. This treaty was approved by both the Russian and Ukrainian parliaments (Verkhovna Rada) on 27 April 2010.<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/65128 Update: Ukraine, Russia ratify Black Sea naval lease], ''Kyiv Post'' (27 April 2010) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120411091421/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/65128 |date=11 April 2012 }}</ref>

On 22 April 2010, Yanukovych stated he did not rule out the possibility of holding a referendum on the stationing of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine after the necessary legislative framework is adopted for this in future. Yanukovych did plan to hold plebiscites also on other subjects.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/64714/|title=Yanukovych: Referendum on Russian Black Sea Fleet's stationing in Ukraine may be held|newspaper=Kyiv Post|date=22 April 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100424051034/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/64714/|archive-date=24 April 2010}}</ref> Opposition members accused Yanukovych of "selling out national interests".<ref name=defending/>

According to Yanukovych the main priority of his foreign policy was to integrate Ukraine "into the European mainstream", while improving relations with Russia.<ref name=defending/> According to Yanukovych the only way to lower the state budget deficit, as requested by the International Monetary Fund, while protecting pensioners and minimal wages was to extend the Russian Navy lease in Crimea in exchange for cheaper natural gas.<ref name="defending">[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/66624/ Yanukovych snipes at opponent, defends fleet move], ''Kyiv Post'' (13 May 2009) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606044816/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/66624/ |date=6 June 2011 }}</ref>

===2012 parliamentary elections=== {{Main|2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election}}

[[File:Ukr elections 2012 multimandate okruhs.png|thumb|The results of the 2012 parliamentary election. Yanukovych's Party of Regions is in blue.]] On 17 November 2011, the Ukrainian parliament adopted a new electoral law, which re-established the mixed system, under which half of the deputies were elected according to first-past-the-post principle, and half on the base of proportional representation.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|page=95}}</ref> The law banned electoral blocs from participating in the election. Both amendments were claimed by analysts to bring additional advantage to the governing Party of Regions.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|page=97}}</ref> The project of the law had been criticized by international watchdogs as being detrimental to political climate in Ukraine.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gleichschaltung: Authoritarian Consolidation in Ukraine, 2010-2012|author=Mykola Riabchuk|date=2012|publisher=K.I.S.|isbn=9786176840015|pages=99–100}}</ref>

In advance to the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election Yanukovych predicted that "social standards will continue to grow" and "improvement of administrative services system will continue".<ref>[http://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/22988.html President:Social standards will continue to grow in 2012], President.gov.ua (16 February 2012) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140126053745/http://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/22988.html |date=26 January 2014 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/22984.html President:Improvement of administrative services system will continue], President.gov.ua (16 February 2012) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140125221529/http://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/22984.html |date=25 January 2014 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/22981.html President:We need to bring perinatal care in Ukraine to European standards], President.gov.ua (16 February 2012) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140125221516/http://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/22981.html |date=25 January 2014 }}</ref> Yanukovych announced $2 billion worth of pension and other welfare increases on 7 March 2012.<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/123811/ Yanukovych outlines four areas of social reforms in Ukraine], ''Kyiv Post'' (7 March 2012) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519184242/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/123811/ |date=19 May 2012 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/123866/ Ukraine government earmarks $2 billion in pre-election spending], ''Kyiv Post'' (7 March 2012) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120401022938/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/123866/ |date=1 April 2012 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/123821/ Azarov:Government to cope with tasks set by Yanukovych], ''Kyiv Post'' (7 March 2012) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519184352/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/123821/ |date=19 May 2012 }}</ref> In the October election Yanukovych's party of Regions won the poll with 30% against 25.5% for imprisoned Yulia Tymoshenko's Fatherland party.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/with-all-party-lists-ballots-counted-regions-party-gets-30-batkivschyna-2554-udar-1396-communists-1318-svoboda-1044-315790.html | title=With all party lists ballots counted, Regions Party gets 30%, Batkivschyna 25.54%, UDAR 13.96%, Communists 13.18%, Svoboda 10.44% |agency=Interfax-Ukraine | work=Kyiv Post |date=8 November 2012 |access-date= 12 April 2015}}</ref>

==Downfall== ===Euromaidan protests=== {{Main|Euromaidan}}

thumb|Mass protests in Kyiv, December 2013 Since 2012, Ukraine and the EU had been negotiating a free trade and association agreement. In 2013, the Ukrainian Parliament overwhelmingly approved finalizing the agreement with the EU,<ref>{{cite news |title=Parliament passes statement on Ukraine's aspirations for European integration |url=https://www.kyivpost.com/article/content/ukraine-politics/parliament-passes-statement-on-ukraines-aspirations-for-european-integration-320792.html |work=Kyiv Post |date=22 February 2013|quote=A total of 315 of the 349 MPs registered in the sitting hall supported the document on Friday. The draft document reads that the Verkhovna Rada "within its powers, will ensure that the recommendations concerning the signing of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU, which are stipulated in the resolutions of the European Parliament and the conclusions of the Council of the EU approved on December 10, 2012, at a meeting of the EU foreign ministers, will be fulfilled."}}</ref> and Yanukovych urged parliament to adopt laws so that Ukraine would meet the EU's criteria and be able to sign the agreement in November 2013.<ref name="EUU3913">{{Cite news|title = Ukrainian president asks for laws to be passed to facilitate EU association agreement|date = 3 September 2013|url = http://www.euronews.com/2013/09/03/ukranian-president-asks-for-laws-to-be-passed-to-facilitate-eu-association-/|publisher = Euronews|access-date = 23 January 2014|archive-date = 17 November 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201117165954/https://www.euronews.com/2013/09/03/ukranian-president-asks-for-laws-to-be-passed-to-facilitate-eu-association-|url-status = live}}{{Cite news|title = Ukraine leader urges pro-Europe drive despite Kremlin pressure|date = 3 September 2013|url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-russia-yanukovich-idUSBRE9820HG20130903|work = Reuters|last = Balmforth|first = Richard|access-date = 5 July 2021|archive-date = 28 April 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160428032305/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-russia-yanukovich-idUSBRE9820HG20130903|url-status = live}}</ref>

Russia, however, put pressure on Ukraine to reject the EU Association Agreement.<ref name="Dinan"/> In August 2013, Russia began restricting Ukrainian imports, which Ukraine's opposition parties described as "a trade war" to pressure the country not to sign the agreement.<ref name="Dinan"/> The agreement was to be finalized at a summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. On 21 November, a week before the summit, Yanukovych suddenly announced he was pulling out of the agreement, and instead strengthening economic ties with Russia.<ref>{{cite web|author=Denise Forsthuber|url=https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/world-report/2013/11/27/ukraines-surprising-rejection-of-the-european-union-reflects-russias-power|title=From Russia Without Love: The Ukrainian president's decision not to sign the Association Agreement illustrates Russia's ongoing power in the region|work=U.S. News & World Report|date=27 November 2013|access-date=29 August 2015}}</ref> Jovita Neliupšienė, foreign policy aide to Lithuania's president Dalia Grybauskaitė, said Yanukovych had called her to say he had changed his mind due to what she called Russian "economic pressure and blackmail". The Lithuanian president's office said Russia had threatened Ukraine with huge trade losses and job losses if it signed the EU agreement.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/22/russia-ukraine-eu-pact-lithuania |title=Russia 'blackmailed Ukraine to ditch EU pact'|publisher=Guardian News and Media Limited |last=Traynor |first=Ian |date=22 November 2013 |website=The Guardian |access-date=25 April 2023}}</ref> Russia also offered more favorable trade terms than those offered by the EU and IMF.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://natoassociation.ca/why-yanukovych-was-right-to-exercise-caution-with-the-eu-ukraine-deal-part-2/|title=Why Yanukovych Was Right To Exercise Caution With The EU- Ukraine Deal (PART 2) |last=Onasanya |first=Oluwaseun |date=9 February 2014 |website=NATO Association of Canada |access-date=25 April 2023}}</ref>

This sparked protests at Independence Square (''Maidan Nezalezhnosti'') in the center of Kyiv, which became known as 'Euromaidan'. The protesters, united under the Maidan People's Union, demanded Yanukovych fulfill his pledge to sign the Agreement or else resign. They also called for a return to the 2004 Constitution of Ukraine to give more power to parliament over the president. The scope of the protests soon widened. Protesters opposed what they saw as widespread government corruption, abuse of power, human rights violations,<ref name="RFEKT25114">[https://www.rferl.org/a/protesters-police-tense-standoff-ukraine/25241945.html Yanukovych Offers Opposition Leaders Key Posts], Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (25 January 2014)</ref> and the influence of oligarchs.<ref name="Euromaidan Analyses">{{cite book |editor1-last=Marples |editor1-first=David |editor2-last=Mills |editor2-first=Frederick |title=Ukraine's Euromaidan: Analyses of a Civil Revolution |date=2015 |publisher=Ibidem Press |pages=9–14}}</ref>

During the 'Maidan uprising', Independence Square was a huge protest camp occupied by thousands of protesters and protected by makeshift barricades. It had kitchens, first aid posts and broadcasting facilities, as well as stages for speeches, lectures, debates and performances.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wynnyckyj |first1=Mychailo |title=Ukraine's Maidan, Russia's War |date=2019 |publisher=Ibidem Press |pages=93–99}}</ref><ref>[https://euromaidanpress.com/2014/01/30/anatomy-of-maidan-virtual-tour-of-the-protesters-grounds/ Anatomy of Maidan. Virtual tour of the protesters' grounds"]. Euromaidan Press. 30 January 2014.</ref> Police assaulted the camp several times, causing further anger.

Yanukovych has been accused, by Amnesty International<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/press-release/2013/11/ukraine-freedom-assembly-crushed/|title=Ukraine: Freedom of Assembly crushed|date=30 November 2013|website=Amnesty International}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur50/0001/2015/en/|title=Ukraine: A year after EuroMaydan, justice delayed, justice denied|website=Amnesty International|date=18 February 2015 }}</ref> among others, of using the Berkut to threaten, attack, and torture protesters. The Berkut, later disbanded on 25 February 2014, were a special police force under his personal command and were accused of defending Russian interests.<ref name="BRP18Feb" /> [[File:Anti-riot police forces consisting of Internal Troops holding protective position and Berkut special policemen shooting. Kyiv, Ukraine. Jan 22, 2014.jpg|thumb|Anti-riot police forces consisting of Internal Troops holding protective position and Berkut special policemen shooting in Kyiv riots, January 2014]] Violence escalated after 16 January 2014, when Yanukovych signed draconian Anti-Protest Laws. The first protesters were killed in fierce clashes with police on Hrushevsky Street on 19–22 January. In response, demonstrators occupied provincial government buildings in many regions of Ukraine. On 28 January, parliament repealed nine of the 12 restrictive laws. That day, Mykola Azarov, the prime minister of Ukraine, resigned "for the sake of a peaceful resolution" to the civil unrest.<ref>{{cite web|author=8T+02:00 10:27 28 January 2014 |url=http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/187663.html |title=Ukrainian Prime Minister Azarov resigns |agency=Interfax-Ukraine |date=28 January 2014 |access-date=17 March 2014}}</ref>

The deadliest clashes were on 18–20 February, which saw the most severe violence in Ukraine since it regained independence.<ref>{{cite news |title=Europe's new battlefield |url=https://www.economist.com/briefing/2014/02/20/europes-new-battlefield |newspaper=The Economist |date=22 February 2014 |quote=It is the worst violence Ukraine has known in its 22 years as an independent country}}</ref> Thousands of protesters advanced from the Maidan in Kyiv towards parliament, led by activists with shields and helmets. They were fired on by police snipers. Almost 100 protesters were killed, as were 13 police officers.<ref name="OHCHR"/><ref>{{cite book|first1=Robert A.|last1=Saunders|author-link1=Robert Alan Saunders|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=21ynDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA221|title=Historical Dictionary of the Russian Federation|page=221|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|date=20 September 2019|isbn= 9781538120484|series=Historical Dictionaries of Europe|volume=2|oclc=1079400660 |quote=On 20 February 2014, a total of 88 people died in a single day, many of them killed by government snipers}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first1=Kim|last1=Sengupta|first2=Ian|last2=Johnston|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/ukraine-crisis-one-miscalculation-and-britain-faces-existential-threat-our-whole-being-10060709.html|title=Ukraine crisis: 'One miscalculation, and Britain faces an existential threat to our whole being...'|date=20 February 2015|journal=The Independent|archive-url=https://archive.today/20201108092205/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/ukraine-crisis-one-miscalculation-and-britain-faces-existential-threat-our-whole-being-10060709.html|archive-date=8 November 2020|url-status=live|access-date=21 July 2021 |quote=20–21 February 2014 Clashes at Maidan – the Kiev central square where protesters had set up camp – leave 88 people dead.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27308526|title=Ukraine crisis in maps|date=8 February 2015|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210608044651/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27308526|archive-date=8 June 2021|url-status=live|access-date=21 July 2021 |quote=On 20 February 2014, bloodshed reaches its worst since the start of the crisis. At least 88 people are killed in 48 hours in Kiev}}</ref><ref name="Bodie,2017">{{cite journal|first1=Julius|last1=Bodie|url=https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1751&context=ilr|title=Modern Imperialism in Crimea and the Donbas|journal=Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review|volume=40|issue=2|date=1 October 2017|pages=274|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210721104755/https://paperity.org/p/84858390/modern-imperialism-in-crimea-and-the-donbas|archive-date=21 July 2021|url-status=live |quote=On February 20, 2014, these protests reached a boiling point as eighty-eight people were killed in forty-eight hours, including some by uniformed snipers}}</ref>

In June 2015 interview with ''BBC Newsnight'' Yanukovych stated that he never ordered the security forces to open fire, but he also said he had not done enough to prevent bloodshed.<ref name="vybbcij15"/> He said "the members of the security forces fulfilled their duties according to existing laws. They had the right to use weapons."<ref name="vybbcij15"/>

===Removal from presidency=== {{Main|Revolution of Dignity}}

[[File:Yanukovych Agreement on settlement of political crisis in Ukraine 2.jpg|thumb|Yanukovych signing the Agreement on settlement of political crisis in Ukraine with representatives of the opposition, 21 February 2014]]

On Friday 21 February 2014, Yanukovych and the leaders of the parliamentary opposition signed an agreement to bring about an interim unity government including the opposition, reinstatement of the constitution of 2004 and early elections before December at the latest.<ref name="yanuclaims">{{cite news|author1=Shiv Malik|author2=Aisha Gani|author3=Tom McCarthy|title=Ukraine crisis: deal signed in effort to end Kiev standoff|work=The Guardian|date=21 February 2014|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/21/ukraine-crisis-president-claims-deal-with-opposition-after-77-killed-in-kiev|access-date=19 October 2015}}</ref> That day, the Ukrainian parliament voted 386–0 to reinstate the 2004 Constitution of Ukraine.<ref name="Wynnyckyj 132">{{cite book |last1=Wynnyckyj |first1=Mychailo |title=Ukraine's Maidan, Russia's War: A Chronicle and Analysis of the Revolution of Dignity |date=2019 |publisher=Columbia University Press |pages=132–135}}</ref> During the afternoon, police abandoned central Kyiv, allowing protesters to take control. Yanukovych secretly fled the city that evening without signing the measure that would reinstate the 2004 constitution he agreed to ratify in the agreement.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Frizell |first=Sam |date=22 February 2014 |title=Ukraine Protestors Seize Kiev As President Flees |language=en-US |magazine=Time |url=https://world.time.com/2014/02/22/ukraines-president-flees-protestors-capture-kiev/ |access-date=1 March 2022 |issn=0040-781X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Sindelar |first=Daisy |date=24 February 2014 |title=Was Yanukovych's Ouster Constitutional? |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/was-yanukovychs-ouster-constitutional/25274346.html |access-date=20 February 2025 |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |language=en}}</ref>

On Saturday 22 February, Yanukovych could not be found, and parliament was not informed of his whereabouts.<ref name="Wynnyckyj 132"/> Parliament held an emergency session. The chairman of parliament, Volodymyr Rybak, resigned that morning.<ref name="Wynnyckyj 132"/> Parliament then elected Oleksandr Turchynov as chairman.<ref name="Wynnyckyj 132"/> Under the 2004 Constitution, which since the day before was again in force, the president's powers would transfer to the chairman in case the president should resign or be unable to fulfill his duties.<ref name="Wynnyckyj 132"/> The later constitution had stated the president's powers would transfer to the prime minister.<ref name="Wynnyckyj 132"/> The acting prime minister, Serhiy Arbuzov, was also missing.<ref name="Wynnyckyj 132"/>

thumb|Pro-revolution activists outside parliament on 22 February 2014

In the afternoon, the Rada voted 328–0 (about 73% of its 447 members) to remove Yanukovych from his post and to schedule an early presidential election for 25 May.<ref name="interfax 22 feb">[http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/192030.html "Rada removes Yanukovych from office, schedules new elections for May 25"]. Interfax-Ukraine (24 February 2014).</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-26248275 |title=Ukraine protests timeline |work=BBC News |date=23 February 2014 |archive-date=19 February 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219200447/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-26248275 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://zakon.rada.gov.ua/go/788-VII|title=On withdrawal of the President of Ukraine from the implementation of constitutional powers and calling early presidential elections in Ukraine|language=uk}}</ref> The resolution stated that Yanukovych had withdrawn from fulfilling his constitutional duties, "which threatens the governance of the state, the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine", and cited "circumstances of extreme urgency".<ref name="interfax 22 feb"/> The resolution to remove Yanukovych was supported by all opposition parties: 86 deputies of Batkivshchyna (Fatherland Party), 41 deputies of the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform (UDAR), 36 deputies of Svoboda (Freedom Party), 30 deputies of the Communist Party, as well as 99 independents. Furthermore, 36 deputies of Yanukovych's Party of Regions voted for his removal. There were no votes against. Of the remaining deputies, 115 were absent and 6 did not vote.<ref>[http://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/radan_gs09/ns_golos?g_id=3863 Parliamentary vote on the draft resolution on the withdrawal of President of Ukraine to fulfill constitutional powers (number 4193)]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140312210622/http://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/radan_gs09/ns_golos?g_id=3863 |date=12 March 2014 }}. Verkhovna Rada.</ref> Under the 2004 constitution, parliament chairman Turchynov became acting president.<ref name="Wynnyckyj 132"/>

The vote came an hour after Yanukovych said in a televised address that he would not resign. He subsequently declared himself to still be "the legitimate head of the Ukrainian state elected in a free vote by Ukrainian citizens",<ref name="KyivPost"/> and maintained that his removal was a ''coup d'état''.<ref name="ИТАР-ТАСС 1012009"/><ref name="TR0311"/>

Political scientist Maria Popova says that "the solution that took place within the Rada was more legitimate than any strictly legal solution that could have come from the Constitutional Court".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Was Yanukovych's Removal Constitutional? – PONARS Eurasia |url=https://www.ponarseurasia.org/was-yanukovych-s-removal-constitutional/ |access-date=27 April 2024 |website=www.ponarseurasia.org}}</ref> Parliament did not vote to impeach the president, which would have involved formally charging Yanukovych with a crime, a review of the charge by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, and a three-fourths majority vote in parliament—at least 338 votes in favor.<ref name="RadioFreeEurope">{{cite web|last=Sindelar|first=Daisy|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/was-yanukovychs-ouster-constitutional/25274346.html|title=Was Yanukovych's Ouster Constitutional? |publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=23 February 2014|access-date=25 February 2014|quote=[I]t is not clear that the hasty February 22 vote upholds constitutional guidelines, which call for a review of the case by Ukraine's Constitutional Court and a three-fourths majority vote by the Verkhovna Rada – i.e., 338 lawmakers.}}</ref><ref name="huffingtonpost1">{{cite news|author=John Feffer|url=https://huffingtonpost.com/john-feffer/who-are-these-people-anyw_b_4964526.html|title=Who Are These 'People,' Anyway?|work=HuffPost|date=14 March 2014|access-date=17 March 2014}}</ref> The Ukrainian Constitution at this time (like many other constitutions) did not provide any stipulation about how to remove a president who is neither dead nor incapacitated, but is nonetheless absent or not fulfilling his duties. The lack of such provisions was a lacuna. Viktor Yanukovych fled from Ukraine to Russia. The title of the resolution was ''«Resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. On self-removal of the President of Ukraine from the exercise of constitutional powers and appointment of extraordinary elections of the President of Ukraine»''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Popova |first=Maria |date=20 March 2014 |title=Was Yanukovych's Removal Constitutional? |url=https://www.ponarseurasia.org/was-yanukovych-s-removal-constitutional/ |access-date=28 April 2023 |website=Ponars Eurasia}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kuzio |first=Taras |date=19 November 2014 |title=The Study of Ukrainian Nationalism at the University of Ottawa |url=https://newpathway.ca/the-study-of-ukrainian-nationalism-at-the-university-of-ottawa/ |website=New Pathway |language=en |publication-place=Toronto}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rp.pl/opinie-polityczno-spoleczne/art12602721-janukowycza-odsunieto-legalnie|title=Janukowycza odsunięto legalnie|website=Rzeczpospolita}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/757-18%23Text|archive-url=https://archive.today/20221029205107/https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/757-18%23Text|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 October 2022|title=RESOLUTION of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. On self-removal of the President of Ukraine from the exercise of constitutional powers and appointment of extraordinary elections of the President of Ukraine}}</ref>

On the same day that parliament removed Yanukovych from office, it voted to authorize the release of his rival Yulia Tymoshenko from a prison hospital.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/ukraines-yanukovych-missing-as-protesters-take-control-of-presidential-residence-in-kiev/2014/02/22/802f7c6c-9bd2-11e3-ad71-e03637a299c0_story.html |title=Ukraine's parliament votes to oust president; former prime minister is freed from prison|date=22 February 2014|access-date=27 February 2014 |newspaper=The Washington Post |first=William |last=Booth}}</ref> She had been imprisoned since 2011, in what many saw as political payback by Yanukovych. Her release had been an unmet condition for Ukraine's signing of a European Union trade pact.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26306511 |title=Ukraine ex-PM Tymoshenko freed |access-date=22 February 2014 |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |date=23 February 2014}}</ref>

Two days later, Ukraine's parliament dismissed five judges of the Constitutional Court for allegedly violating their oaths, who were then investigated for alleged malpractice.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/rada-dismisses-constitutional-court-judges-appointed-from-its-quota-337523.html |title=Rada dismisses Constitutional Court judges appointed from its quota |work=Kyiv Post |date=24 February 2014 |access-date=25 February 2014}}</ref>

===Disavowal by own party=== Yanukovych was soon disowned by the Party of Regions. In a statement issued by Oleksandr Yefremov, parliamentary faction leader, the party and its members "strongly condemn[ed] the criminal orders that led to human victims, an empty state treasury, huge debts, shame before the eyes of the Ukrainian people and the entire world."<ref name="kyivpost1">{{cite web|work=Kyiv Post |url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/politics/where-is-viktor-yanukovych-337418.html |title=Where is Viktor Yanukovych? (VIDEO, UPDATE) |date=23 February 2014 |access-date=25 February 2014|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Booth|first=William|title=Ukrainian parliament, after ousting president, tries to consolidate power, frees prisoners|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/ukrainian-parliament-after-ousting-president-tries-to-consolidate-power-frees-prisoners/2014/02/23/9246255c-9ca6-11e3-9080-5d1d87a6d793_story.html|access-date=17 April 2014|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=23 February 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Ukraine's Acting President Warns Economy Is in Dire State|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-22/ukraine-leader-s-flight-blocked-as-opponents-take-power.html|access-date=17 April 2014|newspaper=Bloomberg|date=23 February 2014|first=Daryna|last=Krasnolutska}}</ref>

===Flight to Russia=== Yanukovych left Kyiv during the night of 21–22 February 2014 and initially moved to Kharkiv. According to then governor of Kharkiv Oblast, Mykhailo Dobkin, Yanukovych had intended to make his stay in Kharkiv look like "just another presidential inspection tour" and according to Dobkin, "was desperate to make it look like he wasn't running away".<ref name="Ukraine Leader Was Defeated Even Before He Was Ousted">{{Cite news |last1=Higgins |first1=Andrew |last2=Kramer |first2=Andrew E. |date=4 January 2015 |title=Ukraine Leader Was Defeated Even Before He Was Ousted |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/world/europe/ukraine-leader-was-defeated-even-before-he-was-ousted.html |access-date=28 April 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Yanukovych asked Dobkin to "pick out a few factories for me to visit"; the director of state-owned industrial giant Turboatom<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.turboatom.com.ua/ |title=turboatom.com.ua |publisher=turboatom.com.ua |date=13 April 2012 |access-date=20 April 2012}}</ref> declined even to take his call (according to Dobkin).<ref name="Ukraine Leader Was Defeated Even Before He Was Ousted"/> Dobkin met Yanukovych at Kharkiv International Airport after midnight.<ref name="Ukraine Leader Was Defeated Even Before He Was Ousted"/> According to Dobkin at that time Yanukovych "thought this was a temporary difficulty" since he believed that the 21 February agreement could still provide for a graceful departure from office later in the year.<ref name="Ukraine Leader Was Defeated Even Before He Was Ousted"/> Dobkin's impression of Yanukovych (during this meeting) was "a guy on another planet".<ref name="Ukraine Leader Was Defeated Even Before He Was Ousted"/>

Yanukovych flew from Kharkiv by helicopter to Donetsk, where he boarded a business jet, but the airport authorities refused to give the plane permission to take off. Then he met coal and steel baron Rinat Akhmetov, who had financed Yanukovych before, at his residence. Akhmetov advised him to resign. Yanukovych with his chief of staff and his bodyguards tried to reach Crimea, 250 miles away. His chief of security later testified before a court that when he learned he was heading into an ambush outside Melitopol, he appealed to colleagues from Russia’s Federal Guard Service for help. Three Mil Mi-8 helicopters picked them up and flew them to the town of Yeysk, on the Russian coast of the Sea of Azov. From there they took a plane for Crimea. Yanukovych had to make one more stop in Anapa because of a technical problem with the plane and arrived on the air base of the Black Sea Fleet outside of Simferopol. In Crimea, Yanukovych discovered that Ukrainian authorities were looking to apprehend him. Together with his inner circle, he decided to leave Ukraine and boarded a Russian warship on the night of February 23. In a propaganda film shown on the first anniversary of Crimea’s annexation, Putin recounted how he had personally overseen the extraction of Yanukovych and that Russian military units had been activated to bring him out “by land, by sea, and by air.”<ref>{{cite book |last=Kim |first=Lucian |date=2024 |title=Putin's Revenge: Why Russia Invaded Ukraine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=st8JEQAAQBAJ&pg=PT97 |series=Woodrow Wilson Center Series |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-21402-5 |doi=10.7312/kim-21402 |pages=100–103}}</ref>

In a press conference several days after leaving Kyiv, Yanukovych claimed that at the time he did not "flee anywhere", but that his car was shot at "by automatic rifles" as he left Kyiv for Kharkiv "to meet the representatives of local parties" and he was then forced to move around Ukraine amid fears for the safety of himself and his family.<ref name="BBC28214RDYPC"/> He said "When we arrived in Kharkiv, on the early morning of 22 February, the security service started to receive information that radical groups were arriving in Kharkiv."<ref name=CrimeaRussiaOccupation/>

Following his flight from Kyiv, protesters gained entry to Yanukovych's Mezhyhirya Residence, as police and security had abandoned their posts. Ukrainians were amazed at the opulence and extravagance of what they found at Mezhyhirya, including a private zoo, a fleet of cars, and a large boat.<ref>{{cite news|author=Oliver Poole |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-uprising-the-private-zoo-the-galleon-moored-on-a-private-lake-the-fleet-of-vintage-cars--ukrainians-left-openmouthed-at-the-opulence-of-yanukovychs-country-estate-9146886.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220817/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-uprising-the-private-zoo-the-galleon-moored-on-a-private-lake-the-fleet-of-vintage-cars--ukrainians-left-openmouthed-at-the-opulence-of-yanukovychs-country-estate-9146886.html |archive-date=17 August 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Ukraine uprising: The private zoo, the galleon moored on a private lake, the fleet of vintage cars – Ukrainians left open-mouthed |newspaper=The Independent |date= 23 February 2014|access-date=25 February 2014 |location=London}}</ref>

On 26 February 2014, Russian media company RBC reported<ref name="rbc_barvikha">{{cite news |date=26 February 2014 |title=Источники РБК: Виктор Янукович находится в Подмосковье |language=ru |newspaper=RosBusinessConsulting |url=http://top.rbc.ru/politics/26/02/2014/907430.shtml |url-status=dead |access-date=12 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227154300/http://top.rbc.ru/politics/26/02/2014/907430.shtml |archive-date=27 February 2014}}</ref> Yanukovych's presence in Moscow. According to RBC sources, Yanukovych arrived at the Radisson Royal Hotel, Moscow (often referred by its former name as "Hotel Ukraine") on the night of 25 February 2014. Then he moved to the Barvikha Sanatorium, the health resort of the president of Russia in Moscow Oblast. RosBusinessConsulting also reported sightings of Viktor Pshonka, a former Prosecutor General of Ukraine in the hall of Radisson Royal Hotel.<ref name=rbc_barvikha/> The Press Secretary of the department that manages Barvikha Sanatorium denied the report, stating that he had no information of Yanukovych settled in Barvikha Sanatorium.<ref name=rbc_barvikha/><ref>{{cite news|title=Управделами президента РФ: информации о том, что Янукович в Барвихе, нет|url=http://www.aif.ru/euromaidan/uanews/1114300|newspaper=Argumenty i Fakty|date=26 February 2014 |access-date= 12 April 2015}}</ref>

According to an April 2014 poll conducted by the Razumkov Centre, only 4.9% of respondents would have liked to see Yanukovych return to the presidency.<ref name="notwanted">{{in lang|uk}} [http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2014/05/19/7025792/ Менше 5% українців хочуть повернення Януковича в крісло президента (Fewer than 5% of Ukrainians want the return of Yanukovych to the presidential chair)], ''Ukrayinska Pravda'' (19 May 2014)</ref>

The EU association agreement was signed on 29 May 2014, after his removal.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2016/november/tradoc_155103.pdf|title=ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Ukraine, of the other part|date=29 May 2014|pages=2135|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161216151926/https://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2016/november/tradoc_155103.pdf|archive-date=16 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Exile== [[File:Yanukovych press-conference in Rostov-on-Don.jpg|thumb|right|Yanukovych during a post-Maidan press conference in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, February 2014]]

According to Russian politician Oleg Mitvol, Yanukovych bought a house in Barvikha in Moscow Oblast for $52 million on 26 February 2014.<ref>{{cite news|title=Янукович купил дом в Барвихе за $52 млн – российский политик|url=http://korrespondent.net/ukraine/politics/3312452-yanukovych-kupyl-dom-v-barvykhe-za-52-mln-rossyiskyi-polytyk|newspaper= Korrespondent|date=27 February 2014 |access-date= 12 April 2015}}</ref>

On 27 February 2014, a report stated that Yanukovych had asked the authorities of the Russian Federation to guarantee his personal security in the territory of Russia, a request that they accepted.<ref>{{cite news|author=Bridget Kendall |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26367722 |title=Russia 'grants Ukraine's Viktor Yanukovych protection' |publisher=BBC |date=27 February 2014 |access-date=17 March 2014}}</ref> Yanukovych claimed that the decisions of the Ukrainian parliament adopted "in the atmosphere of extremist threats" are unlawful and he remains the "legal president of Ukraine". He accused the opposition of violation of the 21 February agreements and asked the armed forces of Ukraine not to intervene in the crisis. The exact whereabouts of Yanukovych when he made this statement was unclear.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.interfax.ru/world/txt/361529 | title=Янукович попросил Россию о защите | date=27 February 2014 |access-date= 12 April 2015| agency=Interfax}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author= ? Как к Вам обращаться? |url=http://gazeta.ua/ru/articles/politics/_smi-anukovich-vystupil-s-zayavleniem-schitaet-sebya-prezidentom/544558 |title=СМИ: Янукович выступил с заявлением – считает себя президентом |publisher=Gazeta.ua |date=3 March 2014 |access-date=17 March 2014}}</ref> In a June 2015 interview with BBC's ''Newsnight'' he thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for "saving his life".<ref name="vybbcij15"/>

In an April 2014 poll by Kyiv International Institute of Sociology those polled in southern and eastern Ukraine were generally split on the legitimacy of the then Yatsenyuk government and parliament, but a majority in all regions agreed that Yanukovych was not the legal president of the country.<ref name="upkiis2014AYnP">{{cite news | url=http://ukrainianpolicy.com/southeast-statistics-of-ukraine-april-2014/ | title=Southeast Statistics | work=Kyiv International Institute of Sociology; Ukrainian Policy | date=19 April 2014 | access-date=20 April 2014 | last=Babiak | first=Mat | location=Kyiv}}</ref>

On 3 October 2014, several news agencies reported that according to a Facebook post made by the aide to the Ukrainian Interior Minister, Anton Gerashchenko, Viktor Yanukovych had been granted Russian citizenship by a "secret decree" of Putin.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/yanukovych-herashchenko-russian-citizneship-pshonka-azarov/26618831.html|title=Kyiv Says Yanukovych Obtained Russian Citizenship|publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=3 October 2014|access-date=3 October 2014}}</ref> On the same day, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that he didn't know anything about this.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://tass.ru/en/russia/752596|title=No information about Russian citizenship granted to Yanukovych – Kremlin spokesman|publisher=ITAR TASS|date=3 October 2014|access-date=7 October 2014}}</ref>

On 26 November 2015, Yanukovych received a temporary asylum certificate in Russia for one year; later extended until November 2017.<ref>[http://www.unian.info/politics/1670577-yanukovych-status-in-russia-clarified.html Yanukovych status in Russia clarified], Ukrainian Independent Information Agency (9 December 2016)</ref> In October 2017, this was extended for another year.<ref name="glavcom445107"/> According to his lawyer Yanukovych did not consider acquiring Russian citizenship or a permanent residence permits but "Only a temporary shelter for returning to the territory of Ukraine".<ref name="glavcom445107">{{Cite news|url=http://m.glavcom.ua/news/yanukovichu-dozvolili-shche-rik-perebuvati-v-rosiji-445107.html|title=Yanukovych was allowed to stay in Russia for another year|access-date=17 October 2017}}</ref> In 2017, Russian media suggested that Yanukovych is apparently living in Bakovka near Moscow, in a residence owned by Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Ryabova|first=Irina|date=1 September 2017|title="Медуза" рассказала о подмосковной даче Януковича|language=ru|trans-title=Meduza spoke about Yanukovych's dacha near Moscow|work=Republic.ru|url=https://republic.ru/posts/86153|access-date=1 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Golunov|first=Ivan|author-link=Ivan Golunov|date=1 September 2017|others=Translated by Kevin Rothrock|title=Viktor Yanukovych, there you are! Meduza tracks down the likely hiding place of Ukraine's ousted former president|url=https://meduza.io/en/feature/2017/09/01/viktor-yanukovych-there-you-are|access-date=16 October 2021|website=Meduza}}</ref>

===Position of Yanukovych on his removal=== In a press conference in Rostov-on-Don on 28 February 2014, Yanukovych stated that all his possessions had been legally declared and accounted for.<ref>[http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/193477.html Yanukovych: I have never had any bank accounts, property abroad], Interfax-Ukraine (28 February 2014)</ref> The same day Swiss and Austrian authorities blocked Yanukovych's and his associates' assets, and launched a corruption investigation.<ref name="BBC28214RDYPC"/>

Yanukovych said that an "armed coup" had taken place in Ukraine, and that he was still the legitimate president because there had been no impeachment, resignation, or death.<ref name="ИТАР-ТАСС 1012009">{{cite web|author=<%= item.timeFlag %> |url=http://itar-tass.com/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama/1012009 |title=ИТАР-ТАСС: Международная панорама – Янукович: я жив и я действующий президент, а отстранение от должности – "спектакль" |agency=Information Telegraph Agency of Russia |access-date=17 March 2014}}</ref> On 11 March he claimed he should return to Ukraine as soon as this was possible.<ref name="BBC28214RDYPC">{{Cite news |date=28 February 2014 |title=Ukrainian ex-leader Viktor Yanukovych vows fightback |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26386946 |access-date=28 April 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://top.rbc.ru/politics/11/03/2014/910267.shtml |title=Янукович: Я вернусь в Киев, ждать осталось недолго :: Политика |publisher=Top.rbc.ru |access-date=17 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140311154230/http://top.rbc.ru/politics/11/03/2014/910267.shtml |archive-date=11 March 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{efn|According to the Ukrainian constitution, the state language of Ukraine is Ukrainian.<ref name="SerhyYUBoaMN">Serhy Yekelchyk ''Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation'', Oxford University Press (2007), {{ISBN|978-0-19-530546-3}}</ref> Russian is however widely spoken, especially in eastern and southern Ukraine.<ref name="SerhyYUBoaMN"/>}}<ref name="BBC28214RDYPC"/><ref>{{cite web|author=? Как к Вам обращаться? |url=http://gazeta.ua/ru/articles/politics/_zavtra-anukovich-provedet-presskonferenciyu-v-rostovenadonu-smi/544733 |title=Завтра Янукович проведет пресс-конференцию в Ростове-на-Дону – СМИ | Новости на |publisher=Gazeta.ua |date=3 March 2014 |access-date=17 March 2014}}</ref>

Yanukovych stated he had been able to escape to Russia "thanks to patriotic officers who did their duty and helped me stay alive".<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 February 2014 |title=Yanukovych says "patriotic officers" got him to Russia |url=https://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/193472.html |access-date=28 April 2023 |website=Interfax-Ukraine |language=en}}</ref> In the press conference he stated that he was still President of Ukraine and "I can't find words to characterise this new authority. These are people who advocate violence – the Ukrainian parliament is illegitimate".<ref name="BBC28214RDYPC"/><ref name="CrimeaRussiaOccupation"/> He described the new Ukrainian authorities as "pro-fascist thugs" and that they "represent the absolute minority of the population of Ukraine".<ref name="BBC28214RDYPC"/><ref name="CrimeaRussiaOccupation"/><ref name="YpcNBC">{{Cite web |last=Gouliamaki |first=Louisa |date=28 February 2014 |title=Yanukovych 'Is Finished': Experts Dismiss Ruler's Comeback Bid |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ukraine-crisis/yanukovych-finished-experts-dismiss-rulers-comeback-bid-n41216 |access-date=28 April 2023 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref>

He apologised to the Ukrainian people for not having "enough strength to keep stability" and for allowing "lawlessness in this country".<ref name="BBC28214RDYPC"/> He vowed to return to Ukraine "as soon as there are guarantees for my security and that of my family".<ref name="BBC28214RDYPC"/> He insisted he had not instructed Ukrainian forces to shoot at Euromaidan protesters.<ref name="CrimeaRussiaOccupation">{{cite news|title=Ukraine crisis live: Russia admits its troops are moving in Crimea|url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/10666893/Ukraine-crisis-live-Russia-admits-its-troops-are-moving-in-Crimea.html|archive-url= https://archive.today/20140228175547/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/10666893/Ukraine-crisis-live-Russia-admits-its-troops-are-moving-in-Crimea.html|url-status= dead|archive-date= 28 February 2014|access-date=28 February 2014|work=UK Telegraph|location=London|first=Josie|last=Ensor|date=28 February 2014}}</ref>

He did not take part in the 2014 Ukrainian presidential election since he "believe[d] they are unlawful...".<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 February 2014 |title=Yanukovych: Presidential elections slated for May 25 unlawful, I won't run |url=https://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/193466.html |access-date=28 April 2023 |website=Interfax-Ukraine |language=en}}</ref> He said he was surprised ("knowing the character of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin"<ref name="CrimeaRussiaOccupation"/>) by the silence of Putin, on the events in Ukraine.<ref name="wjs28214">{{Cite web |last1=Sonne |first1=Paul |last2=Alpert |first2=Lukas I. |date=28 February 2014 |title=Russia Warned Over Unrest in Ukraine's Crimea Region |url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304026804579410312916261336.html |access-date=28 April 2023 |website=The Wall Street Journal |language=en-US}}</ref> He hoped to find out more on Russia's position when he meets with Mr. Putin "as soon as he has time".<ref name=wjs28214/>

===The issue of Russian military intervention=== On 28 February 2014 Yanukovych claimed "eastern Ukraine will rise up as soon as they have to live without any means".<ref name="CrimeaRussiaOccupation"/> On 28 February 2014 the BBC reported him as insisting that military action was "unacceptable" and as stating that he would not request Russian military intervention.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26386946 Ukrainian ex-leader Viktor Yanukovych vows fightback], BBC News (28 February 2014).</ref>

Russia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin told the UN Security Council on 4 March 2014 that Yanukovych had asked Russia to send troops across the Russia–Ukraine border to protect civilians via a letter to Putin on 1 March 2014.<ref name="26427848YanukovychLetterB">[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26427848 Ukraine's Yanukovych asked for troops, Russia tells UN], BBC News (4 March 2014)</ref> On 4 March 2014 Putin answered questions of reporters about the situation in Crimea.<ref name="kremlin.runews6763B">{{cite web |date=4 March 2014 |title=Vladimir Putin answered journalists' questions on the situation in Ukraine |url=http://eng.kremlin.ru/news/6763 |access-date=27 September 2017}}</ref> In this interview he claimed "if I do decide to use the Armed Forces, this will be a legitimate decision in full compliance with both general norms of international law, since we have the appeal of the legitimate President."<ref name="kremlin.runews6763B"/>

In an interview with the Associated Press and Russian channel NTV of 2 April 2014 Yanukovych called Russia's annexation of Crimea "a tragedy", the 2014 Crimean referendum "a form of protest" and he stated he hopes it will become part of Ukraine again.<ref name="Yanukovychblablabla"/> Yanukovych said he would try to persuade Putin to return Crimea to Ukraine.<ref name="Yanukovychblablabla"/> He squarely blamed the Yatsenyuk Government and acting Ukrainian president Oleksandr Turchynov for Ukraine's loss of Crimea.<ref name="Yanukovychblablabla"/> He said he gave no orders to open fire on Euromaidan protesters.<ref name="Yanukovychblablabla">{{Cite news |date=2 April 2014 |title=Ukraine crisis: Viktor Yanukovych decries Crimea 'tragedy' |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26857734 |access-date=28 April 2023}}</ref>

Yanukovych said: "We must set such a task and search for ways to return to Crimea on any conditions, so that Crimea may have the maximum degree of independence possible... but be part of Ukraine."<ref name="Yanukovychblablabla" />

===March 2014 to December 2021=== At a press-conference in Rostov-On-Don on 11 March 2014 Yanukovych asked the Ukrainian military to disobey the "criminal orders" of a "band of ultranationalists and neofascists". He called the 2014 Ukrainian presidential election illegal, as well as U.S. financial help, since US law allegedly did not allow the support of "bandits". Yanukovych stated he would like to ask the Western supporters of the Yatsenyuk Government that he referred to as "dark powers": "Have you become blind? Have you forgotten what fascism is?" alluding to the fact that several positions in the transitional government went to representatives of the right-wing extremist nationalist group Svoboda, condemned by the EU in 2012 (see Svoboda Party).<ref name="TR0311">{{cite news | title = Janukowitsch ruft ukrainische Armee zur Befehlsverweigerung auf |url = http://de.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idDEBEEA2A01T20140311 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140311181912/http://de.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idDEBEEA2A01T20140311 |url-status = dead |archive-date = 11 March 2014 | access-date=11 March 2014 |newspaper= Thomson Reuters|date= 11 March 2014|language=de}}</ref> Unlike his 28 February press conference, Yanukovych did not take questions from reporters.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://en.ria.ru/russia/20140311/188313017/Ousted-Ukraine-Leader-Warns-of-Civil-War-Threat.html |title= Ousted Ukrainian President Warns of Civil War | Russia |date= 11 March 2014 |agency=RIA Novosti |access-date= 17 March 2014}}</ref>

On 28 March 2014, Yanukovych asked the Party of Regions to exclude him.<ref name="euronews1">{{cite web |author=#EUdebate2014 |url=http://www.euronews.com/2014/03/28/ousted-leader-yanukovych-calls-for-referendum-in-every-region-of-ukraine/ |title=Ousted leader Yanukovych calls for referendum in every region of Ukraine | euronews, world news |publisher=Euronews.com |date=28 March 2014 |access-date=23 April 2014 |archive-date=5 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140405000020/http://euronews.com/2014/03/28/ousted-leader-yanukovych-calls-for-referendum-in-every-region-of-ukraine/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> He was excluded on 29 March during a party congress<ref name="euronews1"/><ref name="EnlargedBPoR"> {{cite web|url=http://www.novostimira.com.ua/news-eng-100734.html |title= Politics ""Party of Regions" has excluded Yanukovich, Arbuzov, Klimenko and proceeded to the form of collective management". Breaking news "NovostiMira" |publisher= Novostimira.com.ua |access-date=23 April 2014}} </ref> along with several senior figures of his régime.<ref name="euronews1"/><ref name=EnlargedBPoR />

On 13 April, Yanukovych again gave a press conference in Rostov-on-Don, this time accompanied by former Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka and former interior minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://24tv.ua/home/showSingleNews.do?story_of_the_day_yanukovych_speaks_again_now_accompanied_by_pshonka_and_zakharchenko&objectId=432443&lang=en |title=Телеканал 24. Оперативні новини та відео з місця подій. |author=24tv.ua |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016043540/http://24tv.ua/home/showSingleNews.do?story_of_the_day_yanukovych_speaks_again_now_accompanied_by_pshonka_and_zakharchenko&objectId=432443&lang=en |archive-date=16 October 2014 }}</ref>

On 13 June 2014, Yanukovych released a video message in which he criticised Poroshenko's handling of the unrest in eastern Ukraine, naming it "criminal orders to kill people...that causes anger and curse the mothers who see the death and suffering of their children".<ref name=YnukS/> Russian media had previously reported that Yanukovych, along with his wife, had moved to Sochi.<ref name="YnukS">{{cite web|url=http://www.sq.com.ua/rus/news/politika/13.06.2014/yanukovich_zapisal_videoobraschenie_s_kritikoj_dejstvij_novogo_prezidenta/ |script-title=ru:Янукович записал видеообращение с критикой действий нового президента |trans-title=Yanukovych recorded a video message criticising the actions of the new president |language=ru |publisher=Sq.com.ua |date=13 June 2014 |access-date=29 August 2015}}</ref><ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/content/kyiv-post-plus/yanukovych-says-he-is-clean-unlike-the-current-government-376021.html Yanukovych says he is clean, unlike the current government], ''Kyiv Post'' (24 December 2014)</ref>

On 21 February 2015, a year after the revolution, Yanukovych gave an interview to Channel One regarding the situation in Ukraine and promised to return to power as soon as he could.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/21/ukraine-debaltseve-rebels-maidan-one-year-anniversary|title=Ousted Ukraine leader aiming to return as rebel rockets threaten peace plan|newspaper=The Guardian|date=22 February 2015|access-date=22 February 2015}}</ref>

On 18 June 2015, Yanukovych was officially deprived of the title of President of Ukraine.<ref name="yanunopres">[http://www.unian.info/politics/1090341-published-law-deprives-yanukovych-of-presidential-rank.html Published law deprives Yanukovych of presidential rank], Ukrainian Independent Information Agency (17 June 2015)</ref>

On 22 June 2015, Yanukovych was interviewed on ''BBC Newsnight'' and he accepted some responsibility for the deaths just before his removal from power.<ref name=vybbcij15/>

On 7 December 2015, Yanukovych announced his interest in returning to Ukrainian politics.<ref>{{cite news|title=Yanukovych Wants Political Comeback|url=http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/yanukovych-wants-political-comeback/552231.html|access-date=16 December 2015|work=The Moscow Times|date=8 December 2015}}</ref>

In a 22 February 2017, interview with Christopher Miller of ''Radio Free Europe'', Konstantin Kilimnik explained the existence of a peace effort between Russia and Ukraine called the "Mariupol Plan" in which Viktor Yanukovych would return as president of Russia's illegally controlled regions and Crimea in Ukraine.<ref>{{cite news|last=Miller|first=Christopher|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/paul-manafort-konstantin-kilimnik-trump-campaign-ukraine/28326123.html |title=Who Is Paul Manafort's Man In Kyiv? An Interview With Konstantin Kilimnik |work=Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty|date=23 February 2017|access-date=7 August 2021}}</ref> Andriy Artemenko's peace plan was known as the "New initiative for Peace".<ref>{{cite news |last=Miller |first=Christopher |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/manafort-worked-with-russian-ukrainian-on-peace-plan-before----and-long-after----criminal-charges/29714137.html |title=Manafort Worked With Russian-Ukrainian On Peace Plan Before – And Long After – Criminal Charges |work=Radio Free Europe |date=16 January 2019 |access-date=7 August 2021}}</ref>

On 30 December 2021 Yanukovych filed lawsuits against the Verkhovna Rada at the {{ill|Kyiv District Administrative Court|uk|Окружний адміністративний суд міста Києва}} in a bid to overturn his removal of the constitutional powers as President of Ukraine.<ref name="7391273Yanukovych">{{Cite news |date=5 March 2023|access-date=6 March 2023|language=English|title=Kremlin's two plans. Who would govern Ukraine if Kyiv fell|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/articles/2023/03/5/7391273/|work=Ukrainska Pravda}}</ref><ref name="7337045Yanukovych">{{Cite web |title=Ukraine dissolves notorious Kyiv court recently implicated in Russia's attempt to reinstall Yanukovych |url=https://khpg.org/en/1608811527 |access-date=28 October 2024 |website=Human Rights in Ukraine}}</ref>

===Russian invasion of Ukraine=== {{Main|Russian invasion of Ukraine}}

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24{{nbsp}}February 2022. On 2{{nbsp}}March, ''Ukrayinska Pravda'' reported that Ukrainian intelligence sources believed that Yanukovych was spotted in Minsk, Belarus, and that it was Russia's intention to declare Yanukovych as President of Ukraine in the event of Russian forces gaining control of Kyiv.<ref name="7391273Yanukovych"/><ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://fortune.com/2022/03/02/viktor-yanukovych-yanukovich-putin-put-back-in-power-ukraine-russia/|title=Who is Viktor Yanukovych? The ousted Ukrainian president that Putin hopes to put back in power|magazine=Fortune}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiatvnews.com/news/world/russia-ukraine-war-kremlin-planning-to-declare-ex-president-viktor-yanukovych-as-new-head-of-ukraine-2022-03-02-762346|title = Kremlin planning to declare ex-President Viktor Yanukovych as new head of Ukraine|date = 2 March 2022}}</ref>{{efn|Analysts in ''Newsweek'' claimed that Putin would like to have installed the chairman of the Opposition Platform — For Life, Viktor Medvedchuk, as president instead.<ref>{{Cite news |date=24 February 2022 |title=If Putin Picks Puppet Ukraine Leader, Viktor Medvedchuk is Odds-on Favorite |work=Newsweek |url=https://www.newsweek.com/if-putin-picks-puppet-ukraine-leader-viktor-medvedchuk-odds-favorite-1682429 |access-date=5 March 2022}}</ref>}}

On 2 March 2022 the Security Service of Ukraine raided the Kyiv District Administrative Court in an attempt to physically block Yanukovych's lawsuits to overturn his removal of the constitutional powers as President of Ukraine to be heard.<ref name="7391273Yanukovych"/>

According to ''Ukrainska Pravda'''s sources Yanukovych left Minsk on 7 March 2022, and again he vanished from the public eye.<ref name="7391273Yanukovych"/>

Russia's Kyiv offensive ended in failure, with its forces withdrawing from Kyiv Oblast by 2 April 2022.<ref>[https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/3/ukraine-retakes-whole-kyiv-region-as-russian-troops-pull-back Ukraine 'retakes whole Kyiv region' as Russia looks east], aljazeera.com (3 April 2022)</ref> This seems to have ended any chance of Yanukovych being returned to power.<ref name="7391273Yanukovych"/>

In 2023, Yanukovych was stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.{{Citation needed|date=November 2025}}

In September 2025, Russian media published an interview with Yanukovych in which he insisted on supporting Ukraine's accession to the European Union and called potential Ukrainian membership in NATO a "disaster".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://kyivindependent.com/yanukovych-breaks-silence-claims-he-always-backed-close-ties-between-ukraine-eu/ |title=Yanukovych's stunt in Russian media shows Kremlin doesn't understand Ukraine, experts say |access-date=2 September 2025 |work=The Kyiv Independent |date=2 September 2025 |language=en}}</ref>

==Criminal cases== Since the revolution, Yanukovych has been convicted ''in absentia'' of high treason against Ukraine. He is wanted by the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, charged with responsibility for mass murder of the Maidan protesters, as well as abuse of power, misappropriation of public funds, bribery, and property theft.

On 28 February 2014, the General Prosecutor of Ukraine, Oleh Makhnitsky, formally asked Russia to extradite Yanukovych.<ref>[https://huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/28/yanukovych-extradition-ukraine-asks-russia-to-extradite-president_n_4875830.html "Yanukovych Extradition: Ukraine Officially Asks Russia To Extradite Ukrainian President"]. ''HuffPost'' 28 February 2014</ref> Russian prosecutors stated that they had not received such a request from Ukraine.<ref>[http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/243934.html Ukraine accuses Russia of breaking CIS agreements over Yanukovych extradition], Interfax-Ukraine (12 January 2015)</ref> To date, Russia has declined to extradite him.

=== Sanctions ===

Due to the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation he was put on the US sanctions list on 17 March 2014, an action which had been already previously been considered.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Shmatenko|first=Leonid|title=If petition against Yanukovych gathers 100,000 signatures people might have to wait for month for official response from White House|url=https://www.academia.edu/8243993|journal=Voice of Russia|date=28 November 2013|language=en}}</ref>

He was sanctioned by the British government on 6 March 2014 in relation to the Russo-Ukrainian War.<ref>{{cite web |title=CONSOLIDATED LIST OF FINANCIAL SANCTIONS TARGETS IN THE UK |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1150217/Russia.pdf |access-date=16 April 2023}}</ref>

In 2021 Yanukovych and his son Oleksandr were sanctioned by the EU in relation to his ties to Russia.<ref name="Sanction court" /> In August 2023 Yanukovych was sanctioned again following the opening of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.<ref name="Sanctions EU" /> On 20 December 2023, the sanctions placed on Yanukovych were recommended to be lifted by the European General Court stating that they "made an error of assessment" by adding Yanukovych to the list, and that they could not confirm without doubt that his other legal cases in Ukraine were tried without prejudice by Ukrainian courts.<ref name="Sanction court">{{cite web |last1=Schickler |first1=Jack |title=Ex-Ukrainian President Yanukovych removed from sanctions list in court win |url=https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2023/12/20/ex-ukrainian-president-yanukovych-removed-from-sanctions-list-in-court-win |website=Euronews |date=20 December 2023 |access-date=6 February 2024}}</ref> Shortly afterwards, the European Commission rejected the suggestion and stated that they will not be lifting the EU-wide sanctions on Yanukovych and his son.<ref name="Sanctions EU">{{cite web |last1=Schickler |first1=Jack |title=Yanukovych sanctions unaffected by court judgment, European Commission says |url=https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2023/12/21/yanukovych-sanctions-unaffected-by-court-judgment-european-commission-says |website=Euronews |date=21 December 2023 |access-date=7 February 2024}}</ref> An appeal filed by Yanukovych against the sanctions was dismissed by the European General Court on 10 September 2025.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bandouil |first1=Sonya |title=Yanukovych loses court case, EU rules to keep sanctions and travel ban against Ukraine's former president in place |url=https://kyivindependent.com/yanukovych-loses-court-case-eu-rules-to-keep-sanctions-and-travel-ban-against-ukraines-former-president-in-place/ |website=Euronews |date=11 September 2025 |access-date=11 September 2025}}</ref>

On 16 February 2023, Switzerland launched proceedings to confiscate $140.89 million in assets from Yanukovych's swiss bank accounts stating that they were of "illicit origin" and his assets will be frozen until the trial is completed.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Revill |first1=John |last2=Harrison |first2=Mike |title=Swiss seek to confiscate $140 million linked to ex-Ukraine President Yanukovich |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/swiss-seek-confiscate-140-million-linked-ex-ukraine-president-yanukovich-2023-02-16/ |website=Reuters |date=16 February 2023 |access-date=7 February 2024}}</ref>

===Fraud=== On 11 July 2005, the office of the Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor charged Yanukovych with fraud,<ref>[http://www.pravda.com.ua/articles/4b1a9b83803ef/ Expert report with official documents]. ''Ukrayinska Pravda''.</ref> stemming from alleged irregularities in the way his convictions were expunged twenty years earlier.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pravda.com.ua/articles/4b1a9b9a1415d/ |title=Ukrainian Pravda |access-date=10 March 2010 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100310153216/http://www.pravda.com.ua/articles/4b1a9b9a1415d/ |archive-date=10 March 2010 }}, 4 August 2006 {{in lang|uk}}.</ref> In 2006, the General Prosecutor closed the case due to lack of evidence.<ref>[http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2006/07/20/3132750/ Ukrainian Pravda], 20 July 2006. ''Ukrayinska Pravda''.</ref> In 2006, a criminal charge was filed for official falsifying of documents concerning the quashing of Yanukovych's prior convictions after it was discovered that two documents had been tampered with, including the forgery of a judge's signature in connection with one charge of battery.<ref name="Gorina"/><ref name="polit.ru"/>

On 29 January 2010, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Oleksandr Medvedko claimed that Yanukovych had been unlawfully jailed in his youth.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://zik.com.ua/en/news/2010/02/02/214969|title="Lutsenko cannot believe what Medvedko did"}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://blog.kievukraine.info/2010/02/from-prison-to-president.html |title=Kiev Ukraine News Blog |date=21 July 2011 |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721215928/http://blog.kievukraine.info/2010/02/from-prison-to-president.html |archive-date=21 July 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Bribery=== After the Euromaidan events the General Prosecutor opened at least four new criminal cases against the former president of Ukraine. This included multiple cash payments to a number of Ukraine's top officials which were investigated as suspected bribes. The payments totalled $2 billion over years, ranging from $500,000 to $20 million paid in cash, the recipients included "ministers, heads of agencies, Verkhovna Rada members, civic activists, representatives of international organizations, top judges, including those of the Supreme Administrative Court and the Constitutional Court, and the Central Election Commission".<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Sukhov |first1=Oleg |url=http://www.kyivpost.com/article/content/ukraine-politics/ex-official-says-he-filed-documents-on-party-of-regions-2-billion-graft-scheme-414895.html|title=Ex-official says he filed documents on Party of Regions' $2 billion graft scheme|website=Kyiv Post|date=28 May 2016|access-date=31 May 2016}}</ref>

===Property theft through conspiracy=== Yanukovych is also charged with property theft in a conspiracy with the chairman of the Nadra Ukrainy state company (Articles 109 and 209), which has been under investigation since March 2014.<ref name=kharkiv_treaty/>

===Ukrtelekom case=== On 30 September 2014, the General Prosecutor of Ukraine opened a new case against Yanukovych for using ₴220 million of state money to establish his own private communication company based on Ukrtelekom.<ref name="ukrtelekom">[http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2014/09/30/7039374/ General Prosecutor opened another case against Yanukovych]. Ukrayinska Pravda. 30 September 2014</ref> The prosecutor's office also considered that Yanukovych was helped by former government officials Mykola Azarov (prime minister), Yuriy Kolobov (finance minister), Anatoliy Markovsky (first deputy minister of finance), Hennadiy Reznikov (director of Derzhspetszviazok), and Dzenyk (Ukrtelekom board of directors).<ref name=ukrtelekom/>

===Bond scheme=== According to a secret Ukrainian court ruling published by ''Al Jazeera'' in January 2018'','' Yanukovych worked with Investment Capital Ukraine (ICU) to illegally purchase $1.5 billion in dollar nominated bonds through the use of Cypriot offshore entities.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Thorne |first=Will |title=Secret court document exposes state looting in Ukraine |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/1/10/secret-court-document-exposes-state-looting-in-ukraine |access-date=2025-12-29 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en|date=10 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Savchuk |first=Iryna |date=2018-01-12 |title=Ruling exposes Poroshenko allies’ ties to Yanukovych - Jan. 12, 2018 |url=https://archive.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/ruling-exposes-poroshenko-allies-ties-yanukovych.html |access-date=2026-03-10 |website=Kyiv Post}}</ref> The government suspected the money to be the proceeds of crimes and seized the funds.<ref name=":3" /> ICU denied any wrongdoing.<ref name=":3" />

===Kharkiv treaty=== {{further|Kharkiv Pact}} Beginning in the summer of 2014, the prosecutor's office investigated Yanukovych's signing of the Kharkiv treaty, which allowed the Black Sea Fleet to stay in Ukraine for an additional 25 years.<ref name="kharkiv_treaty">[https://web.archive.org/web/20141021190906/http://lb.ua/news/2014/10/21/283338_gpu_zavela_delo_yanukovicha.html GPU opened a case on Yanukovych for the Kharkiv treaty]. LB. 21 October 2014</ref> Yanukovych is being charged with abuse of power (Article 364) and state treason (Article 111) that are being investigated since April 2014 as well as the new procedure on creation of criminal organization (Article 255) that is being investigated since the summer.<ref name=kharkiv_treaty/>

===Mass murder at Maidan=== A warrant for Yanukovych's arrest was issued on 24 February 2014 by the interim government, accusing him of responsibility for the mass murder of protesters.<ref name="ArrestWarrant">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/24/ukraine-viktor-yanukovych-arrest-warrant|title=Ukraine's new government is not legitimate – Dmitry Medvedev: Warrant out for former president Viktor Yanukovych's arrest on charges relating to deaths of civilians|date=24 February 2014|work=The Guardian|access-date=24 February 2014}}</ref> Acting Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov declared that Yanukovych had been placed on Ukraine's most wanted list and that a criminal case for the mass killings of civilians had been opened against him.<ref>{{cite news|agency=Interfax-Ukraine|title=Avakov: Yanukovych put on wanted list|url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/avakov-yanukovych-put-on-wanted-list-337476.html|newspaper=Kyiv Post|date=24 February 2014 |access-date= 12 April 2015}}</ref>

===Interpol=== For several years, Interpol refused to place Viktor Yanukovych on the wanted list as a suspect by the new Ukrainian government for the mass killing of protesters during Euromaidan.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ukrinform.ua/ukr/news/interpol_vidmovivsya_ogolositi_u_rozshuk_yanukovicha_i_k_1999551|script-title=uk:Інтерпол відмовився оголосити у розшук Януковича і К°|trans-title=Interpol has declined putting Yanukovych and Co on wanted list|language=uk|agency=Ukrinform|date=8 December 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150810043657/http://www.ukrinform.ua/ukr/news/interpol_vidmovivsya_ogolositi_u_rozshuk_yanukovicha_i_k_1999551|archive-date=10 August 2015}}</ref> However, on 12 January 2015, Viktor Yanukovych was listed by Interpol as "wanted by the judicial authorities of Ukraine for prosecution / to serve a sentence" on charges of "misappropriation, embezzlement or conversion of property by malversation, if committed in respect of an especially gross amount, or by an organized group".<ref name=rednotice/><ref>[http://www.ukrinform.ua/ukr/news/interpol_ogolosiv_u_rozshuk_yanukovicha_azarova_i_k_2009190 Interpol announced search for Yanukovych, Azarov, and Co] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150112215108/http://www.ukrinform.ua/ukr/news/interpol_ogolosiv_u_rozshuk_yanukovicha_azarova_i_k_2009190 |date=12 January 2015 }}. Ukrinform. 12 January 2015</ref><ref>storify.com [https://storify.com/reportedly/yanukovych-wanted yanukovych wanted]</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.interpol.int/notice/search/wanted/2014-13031 |title=Interpol |publisher=Interpol.int |access-date=12 January 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20150112165034/http://www.interpol.int/notice/search/wanted/2014-13031 |archive-date=12 January 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

On 16 July 2015, Russian media reported that Interpol had suspended its Red Notice for Yanukovych.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/279256.html|title=Yanukovych no longer listed as wanted person by Interpol|date=21 July 2015|agency=Interfax-Ukraine|access-date=21 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ria.ru/world/20150721/1140672034.html|title=Интерпол подтвердил, что приостановил международный розыск Януковича|work=РИА Новости |date=21 July 2015|agency=RIA Novosti|access-date=21 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rbc.ua/rus/news/interpol-snyal-nukovicha-mezhdunarodnogo-1437471031.html|title=Интерпол снял Януковича с международного розыска|date=21 July 2015|publisher=RBC – Ukraine|access-date=21 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://echo.msk.ru/news/1588826-echo.html|title=Former President of Ukraine Yanukovych no longer wanted by Interpol|date=21 July 2015|publisher=Echo of Moscow|access-date=21 July 2015}}</ref> According to the Ukrainian Interpol office, this was a temporary measure due to Yanukovych's complaints that the charges were politically motivated.<ref>[http://www.unian.info/politics/1103190-yanukovych-disappears-from-interpol-wanted-list.html Yanukovych disappears from Interpol wanted list temporarily], Ukrainian Independent Information Agency (21 July 2015)</ref> Interpol later confirmed that Viktor Yanukovych and Oleksandr Yanukovych were no longer subject to an Interpol red notice or diffusion, and that they are unknown on Interpol's databases. Interpol's action followed an application to Interpol by Joseph Hage Aaronson on behalf of Yanukovych seeking his removal from the Interpol wanted list, as according to the law firm, the criminal charges brought by the Ukrainian government against Yanukovych were "part of a pattern of political persecution of him."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kyivpost.com/article/content/ukraine-politics/yanukovych-no-longer-listed-as-wanted-person-by-interpol-393931.html|title=Yanukovych no longer listed as wanted person by Interpol – Jul. 21, 2015|date=21 July 2015|website=Kyiv Post|access-date=25 January 2019}}</ref> In 2017, Yanukovych's son was removed from Interpol's wanted list.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unian.info/politics/1905766-yanukovych-son-off-interpols-wanted-list.html|title=Yanukovych, son off Interpol's wanted list|date=3 May 2017|website=unian.info|language=en|access-date=25 January 2019}}</ref>

===Treason=== In November 2016, Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko questioned Yanukovych via video link in connection with the former Berkut. During the questioning, Lutsenko told Yanukovych that he was being accused of treason.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/treason-trial-against-yanukovych-begins-in-ukraine/a-38682124|title=Treason trial against Yanukovych begins in Ukraine|last=Hubenko|first=Dmytro|date=4 May 2017|publisher=Deutsche Welle|language=en-GB|access-date=25 January 2019}}</ref>

On 14 March 2017, the Prosecutor General submitted to court documents of the Yanukovych's case on state treason.<ref>[http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2017/03/14/7138115/ Case against Yanukovych was submitted to court (Справу проти Януковича передали до суду)]. Ukrayinska Pravda. 14 March 2017</ref> Yanukovych was charged with encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine, high treason, and complicity in aggressive warfare by the Russian Federation aimed at altering Ukraine's state borders.<ref name=":1" />

More than 100 witnesses were interviewed for the case. One was Denis Voronenkov, who was shot dead in downtown Kyiv at the end of March 2017.<ref name=":0" />

On 4 May 2017 the first preliminary session commenced in Kyiv's Obolonskyi District Court under Judge Vladyslav Devyatko. Yanukovych was not present and was tried ''in absentia''. He testified via video link from Russia.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://meduza.io/en/feature/2017/05/04/ukraine-s-former-president-viktor-yanukovich-on-trial-what-is-he-being-accused-of|title=Ukraine's former president Viktor Yanukovich on trial. What is he being accused of?|date=4 May 2017|website=meduza.io|access-date=25 January 2019}}</ref>

In closing arguments on 16 August, prosecutors Ruslan Kravchenko and Maksym Krym asked the court in Kyiv to sentence Yanukovych to 15 years in prison. The judge then adjourned the trial until 13 September.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/prosecutors-seek-15-years-in-prison-for-ukraine-s-ex-president/29437344.html|title=Prosecutors Seek 15 Years in Prison For Ukraine's Ex-President|newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=17 August 2018 |language=en|access-date=25 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url =https://www.rferl.org/a/kyiv-judge-says-yanukovych-s-guilt-proven-in-treason-trial-no-verdict-yet/29728084.html |title=Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych Convicted of Treason|publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty| date=24 January 2019| access-date =24 January 2019}}</ref>

Days before he was scheduled to give the final statement, Yanukovych was taken to Moscow's Sklifosovsky Institute of Emergency Medicine by ambulance on 16 November in an immobilized condition. He allegedly sustained back and knee injuries while "playing tennis".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unian.info/politics/10341630-yanukovych-reportedly-hospitalized-in-moscow-russian-media.html|title=Yanukovych reportedly hospitalized in Moscow – Russian media|date=18 November 2018|website=unian.info|language=en|access-date=25 January 2019}}</ref>

On 24 January 2019 a panel of three judges of the Obolonskyi District Court found Yanukovych guilty of high treason and complicity in the Russian military intervention in Ukraine. They stated that "the court, having heard the testimony of witnesses, examined conclusions of experts, documents and material evidence, assessed the arguments of prosecution and defense, considers that the guilt of the accused in committing the crimes under Part 1 Article 111 (high treason), Part 5 Article 27, Part 2 Article 437 (complicity in conducting an aggressive war) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine is duly proved by relevant and admissible evidence".<ref>{{cite web | url =https://www.unian.info/politics/10419795-court-finds-yanukovych-s-guilt-of-high-treason-complicity-in-war-proven.html |title=Court finds Yanukovych's guilt of high treason, complicity in war proven|publisher=UNIAN| date=24 January 2019| access-date =24 January 2019}}</ref> He was acquitted of the other charge relating to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The verdict was that Yanukovych was sentenced ''in absentia'' to 13 years in prison.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unian.info/politics/10419918-guilty-yanukovych-sentenced-to-13-years-in-prison-for-high-treason-complicity-in-war.html|title=Guilty: Yanukovych sentenced to 13 years in prison for high treason, complicity in war|date=24 January 2019|website=unian.info|language=en|access-date=25 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/561161.html|title=Kyiv court sentences Yanukovych in absentia to 13 years in prison for high treason|date=24 January 2019|website=Interfax-Ukraine|language=en|access-date=25 January 2019}}</ref>

On 28 April 2025, Yanukovych was convicted in absentia by a Ukrainian court on charges of inciting the desertion of Ukrainian officials and organizing illegal border crossings to Russia during his escape in 2014. He was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kyivindependent.com/former-ukrainian-president-yanukovych-sentenced-to-15-years-in-prison-in-second-conviction/ |title=Ukraine's ex-President Yanukovych sentenced to additional 15 years in prison in absentia |date=28 April 2025 |website=The Kyiv Independent |language=en|access-date=28 April 2025}}</ref>

==Academic degrees== The former president's official website stated that he graduated from Donetsk Polytechnic Institute with a major in Mechanical Engineering, holds a master's degree in International Law at the Ukrainian Academy of Foreign Trade and is a member of the Academy of Economic Sciences of Ukraine, PhD in economics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.president.gov.ua/content/president_biography.html|title=The President's official site|work=President.gov.ua|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209085134/http://www.president.gov.ua/en/content/president_biography.html|archive-date=9 February 2014|language=uk|access-date=12 April 2015}}</ref>

According to the Russian website ua.spinform.ru, from December 2000 to February 2004, while in the position of Ukrainian prime minister, Yanukovych headed the Faculty of Innovative Management at the Donetsk State University of Management.<ref>[http://www.ua.spinform.ru/president.html Президент Украины]. Ua.spinform.ru.</ref>

Yanukovych's curriculum vitae, published at website europarl.europa.eu, states he is a "Doctor of Economics, Professor, Full Member of the Academy of Economic Sciences of Ukraine, Member of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences in Ukraine."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2004_2009/documents/dv/cvyanukovy/cvyanukovych.pdf|title=Viktor Yanukovych Curriculum Vitae |access-date=19 March 2014}}</ref>

Website Pravda.com.ua reported that Yanukovych received the honorary title of docent (lecturer) of the Faculty of Automobile Transport at the Donetsk State Academy of Administration, a tertiary education establishment that specialised in Economics and Management<ref name="The Path of the Professor">[http://www.pravda.com.ua/articles/2010/06/11/5123787/ The Path of the Professor]. ''Ukrayinska Pravda''.</ref> Oleksandr Zakharov, who studied international law at the Academy of Foreign Trade at the same time as Yanukovych, contended that "individual study programs" such as Yanukovych's were commonly viewed as a diploma mill for state officials.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/is-yanukovychs-education-paper-thin-some-think-so-57097.html|title=Is Yanukovych's education paper-thin? Some think so|newspaper=Kyiv Post|date=15 January 2010|access-date=2 April 2014}}</ref>

==Awards and honors== {{main|List of awards and honours received by Viktor Yanukovych}}

==Personal life==

Yanukovych was married to Lyudmyla Oleksandrivna Nastenko. The couple married in 1971.<ref name=UKPresWifes/> With his wife Yanukovych had two sons, Oleksandr and Viktor, and three grandsons.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.partyofregions.org.ua/eng/meet/leader|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100302141906/http://www.partyofregions.org.ua/eng/meet/leader|archive-date=2 March 2010|title=About us: The Leader|work=partyofregions.org.ua}}</ref> From 2006 to 2014, the younger Viktor was a member of the Parliament of Ukraine; he died by drowning at Lake Baikal in 2015. In 2024, Oleksandr received Russian citizenship.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/10/24/russia-grants-yanukovychs-oldest-son-citizenship-a86789 |date=24 October 2024 |title=Russia Grants Yanukovych's Oldest Son Citizenship |work=The Moscow Times}}</ref>

In February 2017, Yanukovych admitted that after 45 years of marriage he had divorced Lyudmyla.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} ''Ukrayinska Pravda'' claims that during the Yanukovych presidency, his wife Lyudmyla lived separately in Donetsk.<ref name="YnwsocUP"/> After the start of the Russo-Ukrainian War she reportedly moved to Crimea.<ref name="YnwsocUP">{{in lang|uk}} [http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2017/02/27/7136575/ Yanukovych said that he divorced wife], Ukrayinska Pravda (27 February 2017)</ref>

Until 2004, Yanukovych was known as ''batia'' ("Dad") among his family members, but since that time he became "''leader''".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pravda.com.ua/articles/4b1a9b9a1415d/ |title=The biography of Yanukovych for who has forgotten it |access-date=10 March 2010 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100310153216/http://www.pravda.com.ua/articles/4b1a9b9a1415d/ |archive-date=10 March 2010 }}. Pravda.com.ua.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pravda.com.ua/articles/4b1a9b6fce388/ |title=Interview of Viktor Viktorovich |access-date=7 March 2012 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110617060012/http://www.pravda.com.ua/articles/4b1a9b6fce388/ |archive-date=17 June 2011 }}. Pravda.com.ua.</ref> Yanukovych himself stated{{clarify|date=March 2022}} that his ex-wife did not wish for her grandson to pick up the bad habits of his grandfather, but Yanukovych did not specify what kind of habits those were.<ref>[http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2006/02/19/3066531/ Ukrainian pravda 19 February 2006]. ''Ukrayinska Pravda''.</ref>

In March 2012, Yanukovych stated it was "a problem" for him in 2002 to speak Ukrainian but that "once I had the opportunity to speak Ukrainian, I started to do it with pleasure".<ref name="ITARTASSYanu19312">{{in lang|ru}} [http://www.itar-tass.com/c193/368996.html Украина надеется на урегулирование газового вопроса с Россией – президент Украины Виктор ЯНУКОВИЧ], Information Telegraph Agency of Russia (19 March 2012)</ref>

Yanukovich had a son Viktor Yanukovych (politician, born 1981) who was a member of Rada. He also has a son Oleksandr Yanukovych who later became a Russian businessman.

==Cultural and political image== thumb|Anti-Yanukovych posters at the Euromaidan, January 2014 Yanukovych was seen by opponents as representing the interests of Ukrainian big business; they pointed out that his campaigns benefited from backing by Ukrainian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov.<ref name=image/> Supporters of Yanukovych pointed out that Donetsk Oblast secured unprecedented levels of investment during his time in office.<ref name=BBCprofile/>

Yanukovych drew strong support from Russian-speaking Ukrainians in the east of the country.<ref name=BBCprofile/> He is disliked and distrusted in western Ukraine.<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/59923/ Yanukovych faces uphill battle in getting Lviv to accept him], ''Kyiv Post'' (18 February 2009) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120612031241/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/59923/ |date=12 June 2012 }}</ref> The People's Movement of Ukraine labeled his election on 10 February 2010 as "an attack by anti-Ukrainian forces on our state" and stated that "all possible legal means should be used to prevent the concentration of power in the hands of anti-state politician Yanukovych and his pro-Moscow retinue".<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/59199/ Popular Rukh of Ukraine calling on political forces to prevent concentration of power in hands of Yanukovych's team], ''Kyiv Post'' (10 February 2009) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120612025425/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/59199/ |date=12 June 2012 }}</ref> On 16 February 2010, Yanukovych issued a statement that read: "I can say only one thing to those who anticipate that my presidency will weaken Ukraine – that will never happen."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.partyofregions.org.ua/eng/pr-east-west/4b7a7a0da3878/ |title=Viktor Yanukovych: My aim is to build a strong and independent Ukraine. For this purpose I will use all tools |access-date=1 June 2016}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{dead link|date=August 2015}}, Party of Regions Official Information Server (16 February 2010)</ref> Yanukovych refers to himself as Ukrainian.<ref name="LGAWYu">[http://yanukovych.com.ua/meet.html Let's Get Acquainted], Viktor Yanukovych Personal Information Server {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151024082219/http://yanukovych.com.ua/meet.html |date=24 October 2015 }}</ref> Voters for Yanukovych in 2010 believed he would bring "stability and order". They blamed the Orange Revolution for creating broken promises, a dysfunctional economy and political chaos.<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/58926/ Exit polls favor Yanukovych in Ukraine race], ''Kyiv Post'' (7 February 2009) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120612025419/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/58926/ |date=12 June 2012 }}</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/feb/07/yanukovych-ahead-ukraine-elections Ukraine set for tilt to east as Russia's ally holds poll lead], ''The Guardian'' (7 February 2010)</ref> During the 2010 presidential election campaign Yuriy Yakymenko, director of political research at the Razumkov Centre, stated: ''"I think he has not just changed on the surface but also in his ideas."''<ref name=Tele/>

In 2004, Yanukovych was seen as Kuchma's and Putin's protégé.<ref name=BBCprofile/> Kuchma, however, in conversation with United States Ambassador to Ukraine John F. Tefft, in a document dated 2 February 2010 uncovered during the United States diplomatic cables leak, called the voters' choice between Yanukovych and Yulia Tymoshenko during the second round of the 2010 presidential election a choice between "bad and very bad" and praised Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the candidate eliminated in the first round of the election, instead.<ref name="WLKuchmalovesYatsenyuk">[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/92047/ Kuchma: Yanukovych-Tymoshenko contest a choice between 'bad and very bad'], ''Kyiv Post'' (3 December 2010) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110209050446/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/92047/ |date=9 February 2011 }}</ref> In another January 2009 cable then-Ambassador of Ukraine to Russia Kostyantyn Gryshchenko stated that Putin had a low personal regard for Yanukovych.<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/99517/ Putin shows no respect for Yanukovych, U.S. cable says], ''Kyiv Post'' (11 April 2011) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120614230339/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/99517/ |date=14 June 2012 }}</ref> In another Wikileaks diplomatic cable, Volodymyr Horbulin, one of Ukraine's most respected policy strategists and former presidential advisor to then-President Viktor Yushchenko, told the United States Ambassador to Ukraine John E. Herbst in 2006 that Yanukovych's Party of Regions was partly composed of "pure criminals" and "criminal and anti-democracy figures."<ref name="wikileakgryt">{{cite news|last=Grytsenko |first=Oksana |title=WikiLeaks: Regions Party partly composed of 'criminals' |url=http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/121085/ |access-date=24 January 2012 |date=23 January 2012 |work=Kyiv Post |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120124205400/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/121085/ |archive-date=24 January 2012 }}</ref>

Yanukovych is not known as a great speaker.<ref>[http://zik.com.ua/en/news/2009/12/21/209492 Tymoshenko challenges Yanukovych to televised debates], Z I K (21 December 2009)</ref> His native language is Russian,<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/mar/05/ukraine-russia-relations-viktor-yanukovych Viktor Yanukovych promises Ukraine will embrace Russia], ''The Guardian'' (5 March 2010)</ref> similar to a majority of the population of his power-base and native Eastern Ukraine.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8685899.stm Russia's Medvedev in Ukraine visit to boost ties], BBC News (17 May 2010)</ref> He, however, made efforts to speak better Ukrainian.<ref name="image">[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/56302/ Ukraine's election: portraits of main players], ''Kyiv Post'' (1 January 2010) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120609121517/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/56302/ |date=9 June 2012 }}</ref> He admitted in March 2012 that it was a problem for him in 2002 to speak Ukrainian.<ref name=ITARTASSYanu19312/> He continued making blunders, however, in Ukrainian since then, dubbed "Yanukisms".<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/58722/ Yanukovych bullish ahead of runoff], ''Kyiv Post'' (4 February 2010) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120612025437/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/58722/ |date=12 June 2012 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/56079/ Tymoshenko slams Yanukovych's gift for gaffe], ''Kyiv Post'' (29 December 2009) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120612025444/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/56079/ |date=12 June 2012 }}</ref> For the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election, Yanukovych wrote an autobiography for the Central Election Commission, in which he misspelled his academic degree as "pro'''ff'''esor" instead of "professor".<ref name=RIO/> The false spelling of the title started to be used as a nickname by opposition media and his political opponents.<ref name=RIO/> His autobiographic resume of 90 words contains 12 major spelling and grammatical errors.<ref>[http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2004/9/21/12046.htm Тому що "проффесор"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091124201616/http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2004/9/21/12046.htm |date=24 November 2009 }}. ''Ukrayinska Pravda''.</ref> Opponents of Yanukovych made fun of this misspelling and his criminal convictions during the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election campaign; an incident during his campaign visit to Ivano-Frankivsk in September 2004, when Yanukovych was rushed to hospital after being hit by an egg (while government officials claimed he was hit by a brick), became a source of ridicule and served as an inspiration for a browser game.<ref name="RIO">Revolution in Orange, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, {{ISBN|0-87003-221-6}} (page 58 + 59 written by Taras Kuzio)</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=У ІНТЕРНЕТІ З`ЯВИЛАСЯ ГРА – МЕТАННЯ ЯЄЦЬ У ЯНУКОВИЧА|date=2004-09-27|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2004/09/27/3002758/|access-date=2026-04-06}}</ref>

Other famous blunders by Yanukovych are his claim that Anton Chekhov was "a Ukrainian poet" in January 2010,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unian.info/politics/318443-yanukovych-called-chehov-ukrainian-and-russian-great-poet.html|title=Yanukovych called Chehov Ukrainian and Russian great poet|website=www.unian.info|date=29 January 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://groups.google.com/g/soc.culture.baltics/c/Gsx8lqneCoQ|title=Yanukovich: Chekhov was a great Ukrainian poet|website=groups.google.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kyivpost.com/article/content/ukraine-politics/yanukovych-bullish-ahead-of-runoff-58722.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120612025437/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/58722/|url-status=dead|title=Yanukovych bullish ahead of runoff – Feb. 04, 2010|date=4 February 2010|archive-date=12 June 2012|website=KyivPost}}</ref> forgetting on 6 January 2011 to congratulate the Greek-Catholic Ukrainian community, which, along with the rest of the Ukrainian people, celebrates Christmas that day,<ref>[http://zik.com.ua/en/news/2011/01/10/265909 Yatseniuk lashes at Yanukovych for ignoring Greek Catholics]. Zik.com.ua.</ref> and confusing Kosovo with Serbia and Montenegro, and North Ossetia with South Ossetia in March 2010.<ref>[http://english.pravda.ru/society/stories/03-03-2010/112454-ukraine_yanukovych-0 Ukraine's New President Shows Poor Knowledge of Geography], Pravda.ru (3 March 2010)</ref> In a form filled in for the 2004 election he claimed to be fluent in Ukrainian, yet made in that very form a series of egregious mistakes, e.g., spelling his own wife's patronym incorrectly.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/news/2004/09/22/4381275/|title=Потому что "проффесор"|website=www.pravda.com.ua}}</ref>

Yanukovych stated in November 2009 that he respects all Ukrainian politicians. "I have never offended anyone. This is my rule of politics."<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/53614/ "Yanukovych: Tigipko, Yatseniuk will take top posts after presidential elections"], ''Kyiv Post'' (26 November 2009) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120612031715/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/53614/ |date=12 June 2012 }}</ref> In spite of this claim, on 22 September 2007, during the 2007 Ukrainian parliamentary election campaign, while delivering a speech in Vinnytsia, he compared Tymoshenko's performance as prime minister to "a cow on ice",<ref>{{YouTube|TxPpH8LJfdg|"5.ua :: Янукович назвав Тимошенко "коровою на льду"}} (22 September 2009)</ref> ("Вона прем'єр-міністр, як корова на льду....", "She is a prime minister like a cow on ice") most likely referring to her skills and professionalism as a prime minister.

Other cases of strong colloquialisms used by Yanukovych include the incident when he called former president Yushchenko "a coward and a babbler",{{Citation needed|date=February 2014}} as well as a speech in Donetsk during the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election, when he referred to the electorate of his opponent Yushchenko as "goats that make our lives difficult" ("эти козлы, которые нам мешают жить"). Later, during TV debates with Yushchenko he explained, "I called the traitors goats. According to the Bible, the goat is a traitor, and there are also rams, sheep."<ref>[https://www.archives.gov.ua/Sections/Ukraineomni/ukrdebate.htm Orange Revolution Democracy Emerging in Ukraine] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170321004521/http://www.archives.gov.ua/Sections/Ukraineomni/ukrdebate.htm |date=21 March 2017 }}. Archives.gov.ua (21 December 2004).</ref> After his February 2014 escape to Russia, during his 28 February press conference in Rostov-on-Don, Yanukovych said, "Ukraine is our strategic partner" (misspeaking and confusing Ukraine with Russia).<ref>[https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304026804579410942949193858?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304026804579410942949193858.html Defiant Yanukovych Emerges in Russia, Vows to Return to Power]. The Wall Street Journal (28 February 2014).</ref> During the same press conference he also broke a pen in an emotional outburst, while trying to apologize to the Ukrainian people.<ref>[http://www.euronews.com/2014/02/28/yanukovych-snaps-pen-in-anger-at-press-conference/ Yanukovych snaps pen in anger at press conference] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140302180648/http://www.euronews.com/2014/02/28/yanukovych-snaps-pen-in-anger-at-press-conference/ |date=2 March 2014 }}. Euronews (28 February 2014).</ref>

Opinion polls showed that Yanukovych's popularity sank after his election as president in 2010, with polls giving him from 13% to 20% of the votes if a presidential election were to be held in 2012 (in 2010 he received 35.8% of the vote in the first round of that election.)<ref name="wsj.com"/><ref name="Yanufewfriends">[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/123517/ All In The Family], ''Kyiv Post'' (2 March 2012) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120601210241/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/123517/ |date=1 June 2012 }}</ref><ref>[http://razumkov.org.ua/eng/poll.php?poll_id=589 If presidential elections were held next Sunday how would you vote?] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150506183555/http://razumkov.org.ua/eng/poll.php?poll_id=589 |date=6 May 2015 }}, Razumkov Centre [http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/124236/ Poll: Yanukovych's electoral rating is four percentage points higher than Tymoshenko's], ''Kyiv Post'' (14 March 2012)</ref><ref name="Ratings of politicians">[http://ratinggroup.com.ua/en/cardiogram/politicians/ Ratings of politicians] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120129112125/http://ratinggroup.com.ua/en/cardiogram/politicians/ |date=29 January 2012 }}, Sociological group "RATING" [http://ratinggroup.com.ua/en/products/politic/data/entry/13990/ Electoral moods of the Ukrainian population: February 2012] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129225011/http://ratinggroup.com.ua/en/products/politic/data/entry/13990/ |date=29 November 2014 }}, Sociological group "RATING" (5 March 2012)</ref> A public opinion poll taken by Sociological group "RATING" gave him 25.1% of the votes in an imaginary February 2013 presidential election.<ref>[http://www.interfax.co.uk/ukraine-news/every-fourth-ukrainian-ready-to-vote-for-yanukovych-in-presidential-election-poll-2/ Every fourth Ukrainian ready to vote for Yanukovych in presidential election – poll], Interfax-Ukraine (6 March 2013) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004220828/http://www.interfax.co.uk/ukraine-news/every-fourth-ukrainian-ready-to-vote-for-yanukovych-in-presidential-election-poll-2/ |date=4 October 2013 }}</ref>{{efn|According to polling organization Sociological group "RATING" in February 2013 Yanukovych would have lost the second round of the presidential election against Vitali Klitschko and/or Arseniy Yatsenyuk and/or Yulia Tymoshenko; and he would have defeated in a close race Oleh Tyahnybok (with 33.5% of the votes).<ref>[http://www.ratinggroup.com.ua/en/products/politic/data/entry/14049/ Ratings of politicians in presidential elections: February 2013] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006080826/http://www.ratinggroup.com.ua/en/products/politic/data/entry/14049/ |date=6 October 2013 }}, Sociological group "RATING" (6 March 2013)</ref>}}

The Ambassador of the European Union to Ukraine, José Manuel Pinto Teixeira, stated during an April 2012 interview with ''Korrespondent'' that Yanukovych's presidency "fell short of expectations".<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/125990/ EU ambassador to Ukraine:Yanukovych comes short of expectations], ''Kyiv Post'' (12 April 2012) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120413211207/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/125990/ |date=13 April 2012 }}</ref>

In an overview piece in March 2013, ''The Ukrainian Week'' claimed that Yanukovych had "failed to meet" his 2010 election promises.<ref>[http://ukrainianweek.com/Politics/74760 Three Years of Promises], The Ukrainian Week (15 March 2013)</ref>

===Paul Manafort consultancy === In December 2004 Yanukovych and his Party of Regions hired American political consultant Paul Manafort as an adviser. He continued to serve in that role through the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election,<ref name=YamontU>{{cite news |url=https://www.politifact.com/global-news/article/2016/may/02/paul-manafort-donald-trumps-top-adviser-and-his-ti/ |first=Aleksandra |last=Kharchenko |title=Paul Manafort, Donald Trump's top adviser, and his ties to pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine |work=PolitiFact.com |date=2 May 2016 |access-date=22 August 2018 }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/30/world/europe/30ukraine.html|title=Ukrainian Prime Minister Reinvents Himself|last=Levy|first=Clifford J.|date=30 September 2007|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=31 March 2016}}</ref><ref name="pmsuOB">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/01/us/paul-manafort-ukraine-donald-trump.html|title=How Paul Manafort Wielded Power in Ukraine Before Advising Donald Trump|last1=Myers|first1=Steven Lee|date=31 July 2016|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=31 July 2016|last2=Kramer|first2=Andrew E.}}</ref> even as the US government opposed Yanukovych.<ref name=Davis>{{cite news |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/25/AR2008062502858.html?sid=ST2008062502934 |first=Matthew |last=Mosk |title=Top McCain Adviser Has Found Success Mixing Money, Politics |date=26 June 2008 |access-date=18 July 2019 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> Manafort's task was to rehabilitate Yanukovych's political career in the aftermath of the Orange Revolution.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703630404575053850989810346|title=Candidates Sought Guidance From American Consultants|last=Boudreaux|first=Richard|date=9 February 2010|website=The Wall Street Journal|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160124215920/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703630404575053850989810346|archive-date=24 January 2016|url-status=dead|access-date=31 March 2016}}</ref><ref name="LOmoney">[http://www.freedomhouse.org/blog/disturbing-role-american-consultants-yanukovych-ukraine "Disturbing Role of American Consultants in Yanukovych's Ukraine"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140322030307/http://www.freedomhouse.org/blog/disturbing-role-american-consultants-yanukovych-ukraine |date=22 March 2014 }}, ''Freedom House'' (28 February 2014)</ref><ref>{{cite news|author1=Alina Pastukhova|author2=Kateryna Grushenko|url=http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/53251|title=Paid advisers descend on candidates, nation|newspaper=Kyiv Post|date=19 November 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091123085548/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/53251|archive-date=23 November 2009}}</ref> According the Party of Regions' accounting book ({{langx|uk|"амбарну книга"}}), Manafort, who after the Orange Revolution provided strong support to Yanukovych, received funds from the Party of Regions via the Belize based Neocom Systems Limited's account at the Kyrgyzstan based Asia Universal Bank (AUB) on 14 October 2009.<ref name=Eurasianet1>{{cite news |last1=Trilling |first1=David |last2=Tynan |first2=Deirdre |url=https://eurasianet.org/kyrgyzstan-president-bakiyev-wants-to-close-us-military-base-outside-bishkek |title=Kyrgyzstan: President Bakiyev Wants to Close US Military Base Outside Bishkek |work=Eurasianet (Eurasianet.org) |date=3 February 2009 |access-date=7 August 2021}}</ref><ref name=Eurasianet2>{{cite news |last=Rickleton |first=Chris |url=https://eurasianet.org/what-was-manafort-actually-doing-in-kyrgyzstan |title=What was Manafort actually doing in Kyrgyzstan? The U.S. lobbyist was allegedly trying in 2005 to plead with Bishkek to close a US airbase. |work=Eurasianet (Eurasianet.org) |date=23 August 2018 |access-date=7 August 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Leshchenko |first=Serhiy |url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/articles/2017/03/21/7138761/ |title=Манафорт і Янукович відмивали гроші через Киргизстан |trans-title=Manafort and Yanukovych laundered money through Kyrgyzstan |language=uk |work=Українська правда (Pravda.ua) |date=21 March 2017 |access-date=7 August 2021}}</ref>

Manafort hired the public relations firm Edelman to lift Yanukovych's public image. However, Manafort's friends said that Yanukovych "stopped listening" to him after he became president in 2010; Manafort warned him of the consequences of "extreme" political measures.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

Manafort later went on to serve as campaign chairman for Donald Trump in 2016.<ref name=ManafortTimeline>{{cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/timeline-paul-manaforts-role-trump-campaign/story?id=50808957/ |first=Meghan |last=Kneally |website=ABC News |title=Timeline of Paul Manafort's role in the Trump campaign |date=30 October 2017 |access-date=18 July 2019 }}</ref> The American FBI began a criminal investigation into Manafort's business dealings while he was lobbying for Yanukovych. American federal prosecutors alleged that between 2010 and 2014 Manafort was paid more than $60 million by Ukrainian sponsors, including Rinat Akhmetov, believed to be the richest man in Ukraine.<ref>{{cite news |last1=LaFraniere |first1=Sharon|last2=Vogel|first2=Kenneth P.|last3=Haberman|first3=Maggie |date=12 August 2018 |title=The Rise and Fall of Paul Manafort: Greed, Deception and Ego |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/12/us/politics/manafort-trump-trial.html |work=The New York Times|access-date=14 August 2018 }}</ref>

In January 2019, Manafort resigned from the Connecticut bar.<ref>Neil Vigdor, [https://www.courant.com/politics/capitol-watch/hc-pol-manafort-disbarment-hearing-20190110-45oqmjzcl5bs5nu7hn3qc7bgha-story.html Paul Manafort resigns from Connecticut bar ahead of misconduct hearing], ''Hartford Courant'' (10 January 2019).</ref>

==See also== {{Portal|Biography|Ukraine|Politics|Russia}} * 2006 Ukrainian political crisis * 2007 Ukrainian political crisis * 2010 Ukrainian presidential election * 2014 Hrushevskoho Street riots * Prelude to the Russian invasion of Ukraine * Alliance of National Unity {{clear}}

==Notes== {{notelist|2}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== *Yanukovych, Viktor F. (2011): ''[https://www.worldcat.org/title/Opportunity-Ukraine/oclc/826684104 Opportunity Ukraine]''. Vienna (Mandelbaum Publishing; {{ISBN|978-3-85476-379-6}}).

==External links== {{sister project links|c=Category: Viktor Yanukovych|d=yes|q=yes|n=yes|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|wikt=no|s=no|species=no}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20140209093624/http://www.president.gov.ua/en/ Viktor Yanukovych, President of Ukraine] – Archived contents from 9 February 2014 * [https://web.archive.org/web/20140311092007/http://yanukovich.org/ Yanukovich.org] — project created by electronic magazine [https://web.archive.org/web/20140102060435/http://politika.su/ politika.su] where they collect information on Yanukovich after 21 February 2014 * [https://web.archive.org/web/20111006111546/http://www.ditext.com/chrucky/council.html "All power to councils – not to a President Czar"] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20210308205617/https://twitter.com/Yanukovych_VF Viktor Yanukovych on Twitter] * {{cite web|url=http://www.partyofregions.org.ua/eng/ |title=Party of Regions Official Information Server |access-date=24 February 2008 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110215131815/http://www.partyofregions.org.ua/eng/ |archive-date=15 February 2011 }} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20100125161608/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/57719 Yanukovych's inner circle] – ''Kyiv Post'' (21 January 2010) * [https://www.theguardian.com/world/viktor-yanukovych Collected News and Articles] at the Guardian * [http://www.yanukovychleaks.org/ yanukovychleaks.org] – website dedicated to publishing documents recovered from Mezhyhirya * [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33233716 Interview] with BBC Newsnight of 22 June 2015 * {{C-SPAN|1012879}}

{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=Serhii Polyakov}} {{s-ttl|title=Governor of Donetsk Oblast|years=1997–2002}} {{s-aft|after=Anatoliy Blyznyuk}} {{s-bef|before=Anatoliy Kinakh}} {{s-ttl|title=Prime Minister of Ukraine|years=2002–2004}} {{s-aft|rows=2|after=Mykola Azarov {{small|Acting}}}} {{s-break}} {{s-bef|before=Mykola Azarov {{small|Acting}}}} {{s-ttl|title=Prime Minister of Ukraine|years=2004–2005}} {{s-break}} {{s-bef|before=Yuriy Yekhanurov}} {{s-ttl|title=Prime Minister of Ukraine|years=2006–2007}} {{s-aft|after=Yulia Tymoshenko}} {{s-break}} {{s-bef|before=Viktor Yushchenko}} {{s-ttl|title=President of Ukraine|years=2010–2014}} {{s-aft|after=Petro Poroshenko}} {{s-break}} {{s-ppo}} {{s-bef|before=Volodymyr Semynozhenko}} {{s-ttl|title=Leader of the Party of Regions|years=2003–2010}} {{s-aft|after=Mykola Azarov}} {{s-break}} {{s-sports}} {{s-bef|before=Ivan Fedorenko}} {{s-ttl|title=President of the National Olympic Committee|years=2002–2005}} {{s-aft|after=Sergey Bubka}} {{s-end}}

{{Presidents of Ukraine}} {{Prime Ministers of Ukraine}} {{2004 presidential election candidates, Ukraine}} {{2010 presidential election candidates, Ukraine}} {{Euromaidan}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yanukovych, Viktor}} Category:Viktor Yanukovych Category:1950 births Category:Living people Viktor Category:People from Yenakiieve Category:Donetsk National Technical University alumni Category:Fugitives wanted by Ukraine Category:Governors of Donetsk Oblast Category:Impeached presidents removed from office Category:Fugitives wanted on murder charges Category:Independent politicians in Ukraine Category:Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Category:Fifth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Category:Sixth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Category:Party of Regions politicians Category:People of the Orange Revolution Category:Presidents of Ukraine Category:Prime ministers of Ukraine Category:Pro-government people of the Euromaidan Category:Ukrainian criminals Category:Ukrainian engineers Category:Ukrainian exiles Category:Ukrainian people of Belarusian descent Category:Ukrainian people of Russian descent Category:Russians in Ukraine Category:Presidents of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine Category:2003 Tuzla Island conflict Category:Candidates in the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election Category:Candidates in the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election Category:Recipients of the Presidential Order of Excellence Category:Recipients of the Olympic Order Category:Treason in Ukraine Category:Ukrainian politicians convicted of crimes Category:Ukrainian collaborators with Russia Category:Russian individuals subject to European Union sanctions Category:Russian individuals subject to U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions Category:Russian individuals subject to United Kingdom sanctions Category:Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour Category:Recipients of the Order of Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow Category:Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 1st class Category:Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 1st class Category:Recipients of the Heydar Aliyev Order Category:Recipients of the Honorary Diploma of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Category:Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 2nd class Category:Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 3rd class Category:Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List Category:Exiled Ukrainian politicians Category:Ukrainian State University of Finance and International Trade alumni Category:Holodomor deniers

Viktor Yanukovych

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