Putin’s game, Donbas ‘genocide’, opulence: Ukraine’s ex-leader Yanukovych out of limbo

23.06.201508:48

Russian president Vladimir Putin’s statement that Ukraine is not a state is nothing but a ‘political show’, ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych told the BBC. It is his first Western media interview since the civil war erupted last year.

“These are the elements, you know, such a political, as they say, show,” Yanukovych said.

‘I don’t deny my responsibility’

When asked about the shooting of demonstrators in Kyiv’s Maidan Square, Yanukovych said he never ordered the security forces to open fire but admitted he had not done enough to prevent bloodshed.

“I did not give any orders [to use firearms], that was not my authority… I was against any use of force, let alone the use of firearms, I was against bloodshed. But the members of the security forces fulfilled their duties according to existing laws. They had the right to use weapons,” he said.

At that, he shifted responsibility on ‘radicals’: “Today, when so much time has passed – one and a half years – today the Ukrainians realized that it was not the government and the president who were interested in these shootings, but radicals … these, I would say, criminals who had decided to seize power in such a way”.

According to Viktor Yanukovych, the Ukrainian authorities are not investigating what really happened on Maidan.

‘Genocide of Donbas population’

According to Mr Yanukovych, the war in Donbas is a ‘nightmare’ that became a reality. Russia’s annexation of Crimea was a ‘tragedy’, which would not have happened on his watch, he said.

He believes the prospect of returning Crimea to Ukraine is not very realistic. “And what is the most crucial is the people, the Crimean people – 90% of the population voted to secede from Ukraine. I think that this is very bad. But it is the result of what Maidan has done, the conscequence of the radical nationalist movement that scared traditionally pro-Russian population,” he stresses.

Viktor Yanukovych also expressed his opinion about what is ging on in eastern Ukraine: “In general, I believe that everything that is happening in Donbas is genocide. It is the genocide of Donbas population”.

‘Donbas should remain part of Ukraine’

At the same time, the Donbas region – much of which is now controlled by separatists – should remain part of Ukraine, he said, urging the United States and the European Union to force Kyiv to negotiate directly with the separatist leaders.

‘I supported the ostriches’

Mezhyhirye, Yanukovych’s residence outside Kyiv, thrown open to public gaze by protesters after he fled, did not belong to him personally, he said.

Receipts detailing millions of dollars spent on the complex were, he said, ‘political technology’ and spin. The ostriches in the residence’s petting zoo, he maintained, ‘just happened to be there’.

He said: “I supported the ostriches. What’s wrong with that?”

The former president said that he spends most of the time in Rostov, but security guards always escort him when he travels as his life is still ‘threatened’.

He hopes that some day he will be able to return to Ukraine.

Viktor Yanukovych was removed from power in February 2014 after months of confrontation with the opposition, which resulted in the death of over 100 people. The former leader of Ukraine fled to Russia. Interpol placed him on a wanted list in January this year, as Ukrainian officials accuse him of embezzling millions of dollars. He denied allegations that he had embezzled funds from the Ukrainian state and was hiding money in foreign bank accounts.