Ukraine gives 15-year prison sentence to former president

(MENAFN) A court in Kiev has sentenced former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich to 15 years in prison in absentia for allegedly organizing illegal border crossings and encouraging desertion, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office announced on Monday.

Yanukovich, who led Ukraine from 2010 until his removal in 2014 during the Western-supported Maidan uprising, fled to Russia and has lived there since. Following his departure, the Ukrainian parliament officially removed him from office.

Prosecutors now claim that Yanukovich’s 2014 escape from Ukraine was unlawful, and that he facilitated the illegal border crossing of at least 20 individuals, including members of his personal staff and military personnel. Authorities allege that some of the security officers who accompanied him to Russia never returned to duty, which they classify as desertion.

On Monday, the Podolsky District Court in Kiev ruled that the charges against Yanukovich were substantiated and convicted him of inciting desertion and illegally transporting individuals across Ukraine’s border. His former deputy chief of presidential security, Konstantin Kobzar, was also sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison for related offenses.

This is the second conviction for Yanukovich. In 2019, he received a 13-year sentence for alleged treason and assisting Russia in what Ukraine described as an aggressive war. His legal team rejected the earlier verdict, claiming it was politically motivated ahead of the presidential elections.

Meanwhile, Yanukovich’s successor, Pyotr Poroshenko, is also facing legal scrutiny as he eyes a potential political comeback. In February, current President Vladimir Zelensky imposed personal sanctions on Poroshenko and others, citing national security and justice. Zelensky, whose official term ended last year, has postponed new elections, citing martial law and the ongoing war with Russia as justification for remaining in office.

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