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Agence France-Presse

A Ukrainian court on Thursday found ex-president Viktor Yanukovich guilty of high treason and sentenced him in absentia to 13 years in prison for asking Russia’s Vladimir Putin to send troops to Ukraine.
In 2014, Yanukovich was ousted as a result of a bloody uprising after his attempts to quell it failed.
He fled the country and asked Putin to send troops to Ukraine to help restore his control over the country.
“Yanukovich committed a crime against the foundation of Ukraine’s national security,” judge Vladyslav Devyatko said in Kiev’s Obolon District Court.

Yanukovich was also found guilty of “complicity in waging an aggressive war against Ukraine,” Devyatko said, adding his prison term would begin “the moment he is detained”. The 68-year-old former Ukrainian president did not attend the trial and is believed to be living in Russia.
Earlier in the day authorities had strengthened security around the court as judges took turns reading out their ruling. The court in Kiev has held hearings on the case since 2017.
Yanukovich faces a number of other criminal probes including over usurpation of power and using force against demonstrators.
In late 2013, the Moscow-backed president sparked massive protests when he refused at the last minute to sign an association accord forging closer ties between Ukraine and the European Union. More than 100 people were killed in the violence when riot police cracked down on protesters in Kiev’s iconic “Maidan” square in 2014.
Overthrown Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich says it was 'wrong' to call for Russian troops in Crimea
After Yanukovich fled the country, Putin revealed a special operation organised by Moscow that exfiltrated the Ukrainian leader.
Moscow annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in 2014 and supported Russian-speaking insurgents in the east of the ex-Soviet country.

The conflict in eastern Ukraine has claimed more than 10,000 lives despite repeated international efforts to forge a lasting ceasefire. Russia views the chain of events that led to Yanukovich’s ouster as a coup orchestrated by Washington.
Yanukovich has all but vanished from view since his violent suppression of street protests and little is known about how Ukraine’s former strongman passes his day.
He was born in the now conflict-torn Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. For two decades he served as a transport manager in Donetsk before moving into politics in the late 1990s. He became the region’s governor in 1997, with close ties to local oligarchs, and eventually prime minister under president Leonid Kuchma in 2002.
Ukraine creates church independent from Russia as tensions mount
In 2004, he was initially proclaimed the winner of a presidential election amid allegations of vote-rigging and charges of interference from Moscow.
The election triggered the pro-democracy Orange Revolution and was eventually declared fraudulent.
Six years later Yanukovich returned to beat Orange Revolution co-leader Yulia Tymoshenko in a bitter presidential contest.
In the years that followed, he became deeply unpopular for his corrupt, lavish lifestyle.


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Ukraine

Viktor Yanukovich, former president of Ukraine, found guilty of treason

Lawyers of ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych (L) and prosecutors (R) listen to a panel of three judges (C) as they deliver the verdict in Yanukovych's treason trial in absentia on January 24, 2019 in Kiev. - A Ukrainian court on January 24 found ex-president Viktor Yanukovych guilty of high treason and sentenced him in absentia to 13 years in prison over attempts to quash a 2014 pro-Western uprising. (Photo by GENYA SAVILOV / AFP)

Judge Vladyslav Devyatko of Kiev's Obolon district court leave a court room after delivering the verdict in ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych's treason trial in absentia on January 24, 2019 in Kiev. - A Ukrainian court on January 24 found ex-president Viktor Yanukovych guilty of high treason and sentenced him in absentia to 13 years in prison over attempts to quash a 2014 pro-Western uprising. (Photo by GENYA SAVILOV / AFP)

Former Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovich was found guilty of treason by a court in Kiev on Thursday. He was sentenced him in absentia to 13 years in prison. Photo: AP

Overthrown Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych says it was 'wrong' to call for Russian troops in Crimea

A visibly upset Viktor Yanukovych, the ousted Ukrainian president, said the annexation of Crimea was a tragedy. Photo: AP

Ukraine parliament removes Viktor Yanukovich, who flees Kiev in "coup"

Ukraine’s parliament voted to remove President Viktor Yanukovich on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko

Ukraine assembly wants Yanukovich tried in international criminal court 

 
People walk past a makeshift memorial for those killed in recent violence in Kiev. Photo: Reuters

People walk past the government headquarters as members of self defence units stand guard in Kiev. Photo: Reuters

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton greets Ukrainian opposition leader Tymoshenko at a meeting in Kiev. Photo: Reuters


Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov takes part in a news conference in Moscow. Photo: Reuters

Members of self defence units march to the parliament building in Kiev. Photo: Reuters

A boy poses for picture as he squats on an armoured vehicle at Independence Square in Kiev. Photo: Reuters

News

World

Europe

Yanukovich sentenced in absentia to 13 years in prison
Guilty of ‘complicity in waging an aggressive war against Ukraine’ for attempts to quash a 2014 pro-Western uprising.


Former leader sentenced to 13 years in prison in absentia for his role in asking Russia to send troops into Ukraine.


Russia

Vladimir Putin

Viktor Yanukovich, former president of Ukraine, found guilty of treason

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Yanukovich sentenced in absentia to 13 years in prison Guilty of ‘complicity in waging an aggressive war against Ukraine’ for attempts to quash a 2014 pro-Western uprising.

Yanukovich sentenced in absentia to 13 years in prison

Guilty of ‘complicity in waging an aggressive war against Ukraine’ for attempts to quash a 2014 pro-Western uprising.