Ex-Ukrainian President Yanukovich Sentenced to 13 Years in Prison in Absentia

The court ruled that the former Ukrainian head of state, who was overthrown in a coup in 2014, was not guilty of a violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, but had committed high treason.

The Court in Kiev ruled that Yanukovich, who fled the country during the violent coup in 2014, has to spend 13 years in prison. Yanukovich’s lawyers announced that they would appeal to international organisations, urging them to appraise the controversial ruling.

The former president, who now resides in Rostov, Russia, has repeatedly denied all the accusations, stating that the cases against him were initiated by his political opponents.

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Yanukovich lost power after a series of rallies that led to the deaths of over 100 people.

As a result, some parts of the country refused to recognize the new government, established after the coup, what led to a military conflict in the eastern part of Ukraine, where the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) proclaimed independence from Kiev.

At the same time, the Crimean peninsula decided to carry out a referendum and, as a result of it, reunited with Russia.