Prosecutors of the Office of the Prosecutor General, together with investigators of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), have completed a special pre-trial investigation into former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and 16 other former senior officials over the usurpation of power and crimes against the Maidan, Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko said.
“This concerns a criminal proceeding regarding members of a criminal organization created and led by the former President of Ukraine in 2010–2014,” the Prosecutor General wrote on Telegram on Wednesday.
Kravchenko noted that he had previously, as a senior prosecutor, supervised the case on Yanukovych’s treason and personally signed the indictment against him for aiding and abetting the conduct of an aggressive war by the Russian Federation.
“At that time, the court found him guilty and sentenced him to 13 years in prison,” the Prosecutor General recalled. Today this work continues in the case concerning the system that was built to illegally seize, appropriate, and retain state power.”
According to him, the investigation established that after February 25, 2010, Yanukovych, in violation of his oath as President of Ukraine, began using the powers granted to him not in the interests of the state and citizens, but to establish personal control over the state apparatus.
“For this purpose, he involved individuals from his entourage who had experience in state authorities, law enforcement, and the security sector into a criminal organization. Members of this organization received key positions in the Verkhovna Rada, the Cabinet of Ministers, ministries and agencies, law enforcement bodies, the Prosecutor’s Office, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the judiciary, local state administrations, and other state structures,” the Prosecutor General said.
These officials, Kravchenko clarified, created the appearance of lawful activity but in fact acted in the interests of the fugitive president or their own joint interests.
The Prosecutor General noted that this system operated in almost all spheres of the state and regions and enabled the planning and organization of serious and especially serious crimes.
A key part of the investigation concerns the events of the Revolution of Dignity.
“In November 2013, after the refusal to sign the Association Agreement with the European Union, mass peaceful gatherings of citizens were perceived by the leadership of this organization as a threat to further retention of power. Viktor Yanukovych, as the head of the criminal organization, decided to use law enforcement agencies and the Armed Forces of Ukraine to forcibly suppress protesters in the center of Kyiv,” Kravchenko emphasized.
He added that the organization of these actions was assigned to subordinate heads of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Security Service of Ukraine, the Ministry of Defense, the Prosecutor General’s Office, and other members of the criminal organization.
“As a result, unlawful obstruction of peaceful assemblies, violent dispersal of protesters, and the most tragic events of February 18–20, 2014 on the Maidan occurred,” the Prosecutor General said.
From November 21, 2013 to February 20, 2014, as a result of unlawful actions by members of the criminal organization, 70 civilians were killed and more than 1,200 protesters suffered injuries of varying severity.
According to the Prosecutor General, 17 former top state officials are being prosecuted in this case.
“In particular, Viktor Yanukovych, the former Prime Minister of Ukraine, the Prosecutor General, the Minister of Internal Affairs and his deputy, the Head of the SBU and his first deputy – head of the Anti-Terrorist Center, heads of SBU units, the Minister of Defense, the Chief of the General Staff – Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the commander of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the leadership of the Kyiv police, officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the commander of the Kyiv special unit ‘Berkut’,” Kravchenko detailed.
At the request of the prosecution, they have been placed under preventive detention measures.
Since the suspects are hiding on the territory of the Russian Federation or in occupied territories of Ukraine, the pre-trial investigation was conducted under a special in absentia procedure, Kravchenko concluded, stressing that the completion of the investigation marks the transition to the next stage of accountability.
