So who are the real thieves in Ukraine? According to the many, the government. I wanted to see their crimes with my own eyes so I headed to the estate of former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych. Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych (born July 9, 1950, Yenakiyeve, Ukraine, U.S.S.R. [now in Ukraine]), Ukrainian politician who served as prime minister (2002–05, 2006–07) and president (2010–14) of Ukraine.As president, Yanukovych promptly demonstrated his pro-Russian leanings. In April 2010 he struck a deal with Russian Pres. Dmitry Medvedev to extend Russia’s lease of the port at Sevastopol, the base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, until 2042. In exchange, Ukraine would receive a reduction in the price of Russian natural gas. The parliamentary debate over the agreement devolved into a melee, with some members of the opposition throwing eggs and lighting smoke bombs, but the measure narrowly passed. Yanukovych drew additional ire from his opponents when he stated that the Great Famine of 1932–33(a Soviet-era famine in which four to five million Ukrainians died) should not be considered an act ofgenocide carried out by Soviet authorities against the Ukrainian people, as former president Yushchenko had declared. A decision by the Constitutional Court in October 2010 greatly expanded the powers of the presidency. In 2011 Tymoshenko was charged with abuse of power and sentenced to seven years in prison. The following year Tymoshenko’s interior minister, Yuri Lutsenko, received a four-year sentence for similar charges; many observers characterized both prosecutions as politically motivated. In October 2012 the Party of Regions won the largest share of seats in parliamentary elections, and most observers characterized the polling as relatively free and fair. It appeared that Yanukovych was attempting to pivot toward the West in April 2013, when he ordered the release of Lutsenko in advance of the signing of an association agreement with the European Union. Just days before that treaty was to be signed in November 2013, Yanukovych pulled out of the deal, triggering a scramble among EU leaders and sparking a wave of popular protests in Kiev. Putin pledged billions in financial assistance as the demonstrations in Kiev’s Maidan (Independence Square) continued into 2014. Yanukovych responded by enacting a series of anti-protest measures that were hastily repealed by the parliament after two demonstrators were killed in clashes with police in January 2014. Protests spread to eastern Ukraine, traditionally Yanukovych’s stronghold, and violence in the Maidan escalated dramatically. More than 70 people were killed in clashes with police and security forces in February 2014, as the remaining support for Yanukovych and his administration crumbled. The parliament voted to impeach Yanukovych on February 22; he responded by denouncing the action as a coup and fleeing the capital. His whereabouts unknown, protesters descended upon Yanukovych’s opulent residence outside Kiev, and Ukraine’s interim government issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of mass murder. Visit http://www.britannica.com/biography/Viktor-Yanukovych for more info!
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