Updated 2:21 p.m. Moscow Time
MOSCOW, October 23 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian Migration Service does not have any information that ex-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has allegedly received Russian citizenship, Migration Service head Konstantin Romodanovsky said Thursday.
“I don’t have any information of that type,” Romodanovsky said.
Earlier, a Ukrainian Interior Ministry aide, Anton Herashchenko, announced that Yanukovych and those in his inner circle, including ex-Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and former Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka, had received Russian citizenship.
On October 7, the Ukrainian parliament adopted a law that allows the investigation and trial in absentia of individuals hiding abroad who are suspected of crimes against national security.
On October 21, the Ukrainian president's spokesperson Svyatoslav Tsegolko said that President Petro Poroshenko had signed into law a bill allowing the trial in absentia of Yanukovych. The law stipulates the inevitability of punishment for corruption offenses and crimes against national security and public safety.
The former Ukrainian president fled to Russia after he was ousted in a coup in February. He and other top state officials have been accused of graft and ordering mass killings of protesters.
