Such a decision, based on materials from the State Bureau of Investigation, was made by the Podilskyi District Court of Kyiv.
The SBI investigation established that on February 23, 2014, Viktor Yanukovych, acting together with his bodyguards and other individuals, illegally transported at least 20 people across Ukraine’s state border into the russian federation outside of an official checkpoint. The transportation was carried out from the outskirts of the village of Urzuf, Mangush district, the Donetsk oblast, using three helicopters of the russian armed forces.
Additionally, it was established that on February 24, 2014, while on the territory of one of the military units of the russian Black Sea Fleet in the Gagarin district of Sevastopol, Yanukovych decided to permanently leave Ukraine and persuaded his chief of security, Kostiantyn Kobzar, to desert.
The court found Viktor Yanukovych guilty of organizing the illegal transfer of persons across Ukraine’s state border and inciting desertion. The former President of Ukraine was sentenced in absentia to 15 years of imprisonment.