The State Bureau of Investigations has completed the investigation into the largest case related to the Maidan events. Yanukovych and the entire security apparatus at the time will face trial for the shooting of the "Heavenly Hundred"

Crimes against the fundamentals of national security have no statute of limitations, especially when it comes to tragic events that shaped the country's modern history.

The State Bureau of Investigations has completed the investigation into a large-scale case involving former state leadership for organizing the dispersal and shooting of demonstrators on February 18-20, 2014. The indictment has been sent to court.

The individuals under investigation in the case related to the events of February 18-20, 2014, include:

• Former President Viktor Yanukovych
• Former Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Vitaliy Zakharchenko and his deputy
• Former Head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) at that time, Oleksandr Yakymenko
• Former First Deputy Head of the SSU, Head of the Anti-Terrorist Center, Volodymyr Totskyi
• Former Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Pavlo Lebedev
• Chief of the Main Directorate, Commander of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Stanislav Shulyak
• Acting Chief of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in Kyiv, Valeriy Koryak
• Deputy Chief of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine - Head of the Public Security Police
• Commander of the Berkut Special Police Force under the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in Kyiv

Law enforcement officials do not officially disclose the names of the suspects.

It has been established that they gave orders and made decisions from February 18 to 20, 2014, regarding the use of special means, military equipment, firearms by law enforcement personnel without proper grounds and in violation of the existing legislation to forcefully suppress and disperse protesters in the city center and to quell protest actions. Additionally, these officials organized the storming of Maidan under the guise of an "anti-terrorist operation" and ordered the shooting of protesters on the morning of February 20. All of these actions were taken in an abuse of power, exceeding their official authority, and without any legal justification.

The actions of the former President and former law enforcement officials led to mass casualties among participants in protest actions in the central part of Kyiv, including the deaths of 67 civilians. A total of 887 individuals and 132 law enforcement officers were injured. Property damage in the amount of over 16 million hryvnias was inflicted.

To avoid responsibility, former officials fled Ukraine, and as a result, the pre-trial investigation was conducted under a special procedure, with a preventive measure of detention chosen for them by the investigative judge.

The former President and heads of the security forces are accused of:

1. Organizing illegal obstruction of assemblies, rallies, marches, and demonstrations from February 18 to 20, 2014, as part of a criminal group.
2. Exceeding the authority and powers of law enforcement officers.
3. Deliberate killings and attempted murders.
4. Infliction of deliberate grievous bodily harm.
5. Organizing a terrorist act.

The pre-trial investigation also established that the former Head of the SSU and the Commander of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine served in the armed forces of the Russian Federation after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. As a result, they acquired Russian citizenship, received access to Russian military and state secrets, and swore allegiance to the Russian people. When giving orders to use violence against protesters, they acted in the interests of the Russian Federation to which they had sworn allegiance.

Considering that some of the accused are hiding in the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, they will be taken into custody and handed over to the court immediately after the liberation of these territories by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.