Deposed Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych mourns death of youngest son after car accident
Viktor Yanukovych, the younger son of the deposed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, drowned when his car went through ice on Russia's Lake Baikal, according to current and former officials and media reports.
"Viktor drove his car on the ice with his seat belt fastened and, as the car leaned to the driver's side, he lost precious seconds to unbuckle himself," Anton Gerashchenko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament and of the Interior Ministry's board, said on Facebook, citing several unidentified persons with access to witnesses.
Nestor Shufrich, a close associate of the ex-president and former deputy head of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, also announced Yanukovych's death on Facebook. Russian police and Emergencies Ministry branches in Irkutsk declined to comment, and the Investigative Committee didn't answer phones.
Unlike his elder brother Alexander, Viktor Yanukovych opposed his father's strong measures against protesters in Kiev in 2014 and Ukraine pressed no criminal charges against him, Gerashchenko said in his statement.
The Kremlin-backed president was driven from power in February last year and went into exile in Russia with his family. His ouster sparked Russia's decision to annex Crimea and led pro-Russian rebels to fight for control of areas in Ukraine's industrial eastern heartland.