Yanukovych received 15 years in absentia for organizing an illegal escape in 2014
Former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison for organizing illegal border crossing and inciting desertion, as stated in the message from the Office of the Prosecutor General.
The Kyiv Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the previous instance regarding Yanukovych, confirming the legality of the sentence. The court found him guilty of treason and aiding Russia in waging an aggressive war against Ukraine, for which the former president was already sentenced in absentia to 13 years in prison in 2019.
It is reported that on February 23, 2014, Yanukovych, along with the head of his Security Service, Konstantin Kobzar, organized an illegal flight with thirteen military helicopters of the Russian Air Force from the village of Urzuf to Yeysk (Russia), and then to Crimea. Later, at Kazachya Bay in Sevastopol, Yanukovych, with the help of Russian military, finally left Ukraine. The Prosecutor General’s Office notes that all movements of the former president were coordinated with the President of Russia Vladimir Putin.
The sentence for the former president and his associates is supported by evidence presented in court, where it was established that, apart from Yanukovych himself, at least 20 people from his close circle and servicemen of the State Security Service fled.
| Date | Event | Court decision |
| 2019 | The court found Yanukovych guilty of treason | 13 years in prison in absentia |
| 2023 | The Court of Appeal upheld the sentence | 15 years in prison in absentia |
