Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych (Віктор Янукович, born 1950) was president of Ukraine from February 2010 to February 2014 and earlier served twice as prime minister. His Party of Regions retained American political consultant Paul Manafort for years, a relationship that later figured in U.S. prosecutions of Manafort. In November 2013 Yanukovych abandoned an association agreement with the European Union under Russian pressure, triggering the Euromaidan protests. After security forces killed protesters in Kyiv in February 2014, he fled to Russia on February 21-22, 2014, and was removed by the Verkhovna Rada.
The U.S. Treasury designated him on March 17, 2014, under Executive Order 13660. On January 24, 2019, a Kyiv court convicted him in absentia of high treason, chiefly for his March 2014 letter asking Vladimir Putin to send Russian troops into Ukraine, and sentenced him to 13 years. He lives in Russia.
Sources
- U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control. “Ukraine-related Designations.” Recent actions, March 17, 2014.
- Meduza. “Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich Sentenced to 13 Years in Prison.” January 24, 2019.
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Summary entry. A fuller, document-based profile is in preparation.