Ousted Ukrainian President Yanukovych Denies Moscow's $15 Bln Loan 'Bribe'

Ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych denies the Russian loan of $15 billion was a "bribe".

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Currently Ukraine is being ruled by a totalitarian government that controls everyone and everything in the country, ousted former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said.

Earlier this week, Yanukovych said he would like to return to politics and to this end, was in contact with current Ukrainian political figures.

“This is a pure and simple totalitarian system that controls everything and everyone in Ukraine,” Yanukovych told RIA Novosti.

He said that today any person that was criticizing the Ukrainian authorities was immediately becoming “a public enemy” or “a Kremlin’s spy.” Yanukovych added that the state authorities were freely using methods of political retaliation by opening criminal cases against their political opponents.

“With the help of, so to say, 'law enforcement bulldozer' and extremists [they] threatened people, journalists and politicians, disagreeing with a viewpoint of authorities. Today in Ukraine opposition is being killed in a broad daylight or being forced to commit suicide,” he said. 

Ukraine Should Undergo Federalization to Solve Donbas Conflict

The issue of the special status of Ukraine's southeast Donbas region and the ongoing conflict there can be solved if Ukraine undergoes federalization, along the lines of the United States, Germany or Switzerland, former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych said.

Earlier this week, Yanukovych said he would like to return to politics and to this end, was in contact with current Ukrainian political figures.

"In order to resolve the current tragedy in Donbas, one should look at the history. Look at the examples of solving similar crises in the past. I know that the subject of, for example, federalism irritates the Ukrainian current government, and has become synonymous with separatism and terrorism [for them]. Why would not we ask the United States, Germany, Switzerland to share their experience in federalization?" Yanukovych said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

Yanukovych believes that the issue of federalization will not disappear from the political agenda in the near future, although the issue is unlikely to be solved swiftly.

Yanukovych served as Ukraine's president from 2010 until his ouster in February 2014 by the Ukrainian parliament, when he was forced to flee the country in fear for his life. The coup was preceded by months of protests in Ukraine’s capital, sparked by Yanukovych’s rejection to sign the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement.