SIMFEROPOL, April 11 (RIA Novosti) – Russia will not extradite ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to Kiev because he is the legitimate head of state, Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika said Friday.
“Yanukovych is the full-fledged president, the legitimate president,” Chaika said, adding that “there are no grounds for us to solve the issue of extraditing Yanukovych, he has committed no crimes.”
In February, the Ukrainian parliament backed by far-right movements ousted Yanukovych and put him on an international wanted list on mass murder charges and scheduled an early presidential election for May 25.
Yanukovych fled Kiev for Russia over threats to his personal safety.
The toppling of Yanukovych’s government has provoked a wave of pro-Russian rallies in the southern and eastern parts of Ukraine.
Moscow has described the uprising in Kiev as an illegitimate fascist coup and a military seizure of power, which resulted in it taking steps to protect ethnic Russians in Ukraine, including the reunification with Crimea.
