The phenomenon of Victor Yanukovych

The interrogation of the former president of Ukraine did not take place, but he gave a press conference. Report "Medusa"

Former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych came to Rostov-on-Don to testify in the Euromaidan case-on the murder of 48 demonstrators in Kyiv on February 20, 2014. He is in the status of a witness; On November 25, with the help of a video conference, Yanukovych was supposed to answer the questions of the judge of the Svyatoshinsky district court of Kyiv, where the process of former employees of Berkut is going on. It was they, according to the Ukrainian investigation, who fired at the protesters. However, the interrogation did not take place, since the “Berkutovites” did not work to be taken to court - the group of activists blocked the building of the pre -trial detention center, where the defendants are located. The judge transferred the interrogation to November 28. Viktor Yanukovych, taking advantage of the fact that he still arrived in Rostov, held a press conference.

According to the official version, Viktor Yanukovych is in Russia in refugee status. In February and March 2014, he gave two press conferences, during which he tried to explain his behavior in the days of confrontation on the Maidan-but then he almost did not appear in public.

The exact place of residence of Yanukovych in Rostov-on-Don is unknown, and all the past two and a half years, as local journalists note, his presence did not affect the life of the city. Only in 2016 did Yanukovych hit the news feeds when, on his yacht, accompanied by guard boats, decided to ride Don to Volgograd. A luxurious ship and guard scared Rostov fishermen, who ended up in the morning of the yacht early in the morning. Later it became known that Yanukovych really got to Volgograd and visited Mamaev Kurgan.

The news that the fugitive president has to testify in the Rostov Regional Court, caused excitement in the city, and for the first time after the sentence of the sentence in the case of the Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, hundreds of journalists from different countries gathered in Rostov. According to official figures, about 300 requests for accreditation for process coverage were sent to the court’s press service.

The fact that on November 25 an event takes place in the city of state importance was understandable to any Rostovites. The city’s large highways were taken under enhanced control by the traffic police. The area where the regional court is located was flooded by cars with flashing lights, foot police and people in civilian clothes. On the narrow streets of the Historical Center of Rostov, the Emergencies Emergencies ranked. Opposite the main entrance to the court, for some reason, KAMAZ parked, specially equipped to evacuate heavy equipment (its journalists first took for a waterometer). Forced for several hours to wait for the inspection at the entrance to the court building, they discussed among themselves that the security measures taken more corresponded to the visit of the Prime Minister or even the Patriarch. According to Rostov journalists, the operation still did not reach the level of Vladimir Putin’s arrival: sewer hatches are usually brewed to such an event on the main street of the city - Bolshaya Sadovaya.

Later, answering the question of why such enhanced security measures are needed-and whether he was afraid of his life, Yanukovych said that all courts are guarded in his own way, and not to change these orders.

Not everyone managed to get into the court building. Some Ukrainian journalists accredited in advance in advance. Among the bottom were the Sobkor agency "UNIAN" Roman Tsymbalyuk, the correspondent of the Ukrainian shopping center Tatyana Gorbach and the crew of STB. Russian journalist Vladislav Ryazantsev, who agreed to cover the process for readers of the Ukrainian portal Delo.ua, was allowed into the building, but there people in civilian clothes approached him and offered to proceed “to the conversation”. The journalist refused and went outside, where several dozen journalists waited for his turn. The man in his coat again approached his eyes in the eyes of other reporters and persistently repeated: "Let's go." "Where is the protocol?" - Feeling the support of several television cameras and cameras answered Vladislav. The man, looking back, retreated.

Nobody managed to capture Yanukovych’s arrival. For half an hour to the backyard, the courts drove a total of six tightly tinted minibuses, accompanied by traffic police machines with flashing lights and a representative class sedans. In the front seat of one of the minibuses, one could see people whose faces were hidden by dark hoods. Passengers left the cars already in the locked courtyard.

The interrogation of Yanukovych took less than an hour. Journalists were not allowed into the court of trials, and they followed the answers of the former president of Ukraine on video broadcasting. Seeing the former leader of the country, Ukrainian journalists noted that over the past two years, Yanukovych was old, but looks much more inspired than in February 2014.

First of all, he accused the Ukrainian side of deliberately delaying the process: the interrogation was supposed to take place earlier, but broke “for technical reasons”. The supporters of Yanukovych have repeatedly stated that official Kyiv was not interested in the interrogation of the escaped president, since some facts unpleasant for the current authorities may open during the process. Yanukovych, on the contrary, tried in every possible way to emphasize that he wanted to talk about what was happening in Kyiv in February 2014.

“First of all, this is my personal initiative - to act as a witness in this case, this is my personal decision. Therefore, I am interested in the fact that the truth was established in this matter and the guilty were really punished. I will talk about this when I have such an opportunity, ”Yanukovych said in Ukrainian. He was noticeably nervous, and when he signed the papers served by his lawyer, he did it so energetically that the observers remembered how he broke the pencil during his first press conference in Rostov on February 28, 2014.

However, this time the interrogation also did not take place. When it became clear that the defendants of the “Berkutovites” could not be taken to the court, the judge in Kyiv announced a 20-minute break, and then completely transferred the meeting on November 28. After that, reporters were informed that Yanukovych was ready to make an application for the press.

It was noticeable that the former president of Ukraine is glad to be in the spotlight again. He approached the cameras with a confident, sweeping gait.

“Have you seen what happened here? - Yanukovych began with a picture with his hands. - I have one question - who was it? Who tore off the interrogation? Today we learned that the Right Sector ( prohibited in Russia - approx. Medusa ), the radicals again work outside the Ukrainian laws on the principle of Maidan, and the authorities approve of this. Now the statement of [Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen] Avakov was made: “We will not give Yanukovych the information site.” What does it mean? Does the Minister of Internal Affairs not fulfill the court decision? The court decided to interrogate me as a witness. Of course, they have a fear that the crimes of the Maidan will be disclosed. Today I will hold a press conference. Although I can’t say everything that I could. Considering that after three days the court hearing will take place, now I can’t give them a chance to take advantage of my testimony outside the court. ”

"It is bad that Crimea was separated from Ukraine"

The role of the external press service of Viktor Yanukovych was taken by the TASS agency: it organized a press conference in the same hall where the former president of Ukraine performed two and a half years ago.

Ukrainian journalists first of all asked how all these two years the former president was sleeping - and what he feels after it became known that he invited Russian troops to Ukraine.

“I heard a lot of slander,” answered Yanukovych. - It concerned both me and the death of my youngest son. Yes, I made a number of mistakes, I am not a saint. Most importantly, I did not find the strength to sign an order to introduce troops and declare martial law in Ukraine. This was the only way to stop the radicals. I did not go to bloodshed. "

While Russian journalists constantly offered Yanukovych to evaluate what is happening in Ukraine, compatriots of the former president, on the contrary, were returning all the time in 2014. When Yanukovych began to answer the question of why he asked Russia about military assistance in restoring order in the country, silence reigned in the hall.

“The document you are talking about was not put into action,” Yanukovych said carefully choosing his words carefully. And he repeated firmly: - There was such a document. There was an emotional decision to somehow influence the onset of illegal military units, the violence of people in the Donbass, to looting ... It caused my emotions and desire to somehow protect these people. ”

At the same time, the former Ukrainian leader categorically rejected all the charges of exporting a large amount of money to Russia. “I did not take away anything from Ukraine, except for personal things that were manual treasury,” he said.

Yanukovych discussed a lot about Crimea. “Is it good that Crimea was separated from Ukraine? No, it's bad, ”he concluded. And he added that the responsibility for joining the peninsula to Russia lies on Ukrainian radicals.

According to Yanukovych, at the beginning of 2014 he was provided with operational information on how “about eight buses with the inhabitants of Crimea were shot, who went to a peaceful action before the Ukrainian parliament. “There were photographs of how these buses were shot, then they were set on fire. They beat these people. One of the buses exploded - a gas tank. People took advantage of this and ran into the forest. And these radicals, young people in masks, opened a hunt in the forest. People were saved as they could, ”after these words, Ukrainian journalists began to look at each other. “Most of them died. But most of him came to the Crimea, ”Yanukovych completed his story.

He called the referendum on the peninsula “the result of the provocation of the Maidan,” but did not question the referendum. The press conference ended with the promise of Yanukovych to meet with reporters after interrogation on Monday, November 28.

Elena Romanova

Rostov-on-Don