Letter from Yanukovych

On November 21, 2013, the Ukrainian government suspended the preparation of an association agreement with the European Union , which led to massive protests in the center of Kiev . In late January - early February 2014, during the negotiations between the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and the leaders of the parliamentary opposition, a certain compromise was reached: Yanukovych dismissed the government of Mykola Azarov , agreed to form a coalition government, all previously detained protesters were released, the protesters were Unlocked buildings of regional state administrations.

February 18, however, there was a sharp aggravation of the situation, accompanied by massive bloodshed. In Kiev, violent clashes between protesters and the police resumed, which led to the deaths of more than a hundred people, including as a result of unidentified snipers . On February 21, with the participation of Western mediators, the President of Ukraine signed an agreement with the opposition to resolve the political crisis . In the evening of the same day, Yanukovych left Kiev. On February 22, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a resolution stating that Yanukovych “unconstitutionally removed himself from the exercise of constitutional authority” and was not fulfilling his duties, and also scheduled early elections for May 25, 2014.

The Verkhovna Rada reinstated the 2004 constitution and entrusted the speaker of the parliament, Alexander Turchinov , with the execution of the duties of the president. On the night of February 22-23, Russian special services carried out an operation to evacuate Viktor Yanukovych and his family to a safe place in the Crimea, and soon after that he was secretly transported to the territory of the Russian Federation. The change of power that has been described by the Russian authorities as a coup, and Yanukovych continued to consider himself the "legitimate president" of Ukraine ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]} .

On March 3, 2014, the Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, at an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council said that he was authorized to announce that the President of Russia had received the appeal of President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, after which he read out a letter dated March 1 requesting the use of the Russian armed forces for “restoration” legality, peace, law and order, stability and protection of the population of Ukraine ”, and also showed his photocopy ^{[5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]} . Later, the appeal was officially registered by Churkin in accordance with the UN document management procedures ^[12] . At the same time, the Yuriy Sergeyev challenged the legality of the request of Yanukovych, since, according to the Constitution of Ukraine , the Verkhovna Rada has the exclusive right to decide on admission to Ukrainian territory of units of the armed forces of other states ^[13] .

On the same day, March 1, Putin sent an appeal to the Federation Council “on the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in Ukraine” ^[14] , after which members of the Federation Council at their extraordinary meeting “unanimously” approved the appeal of the President of Russia ^[15] , deciding “Give consent to the President of the Russian Federation on the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine until the normalization of the socio-political situation in this country” ^[16] . The chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation, Legal and Judicial Issues, and the Development of Civil Society Andriy Klishas said that the Federation Council “ received an appeal from the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych,” which turned out to be “enough to support the appeal sent by the President of the Russian Federation” ^{[17] [18]} . Observers noted that the vote was held with procedural violations: after the opening of the meeting, only 78 out of 166 senators registered for voting, which means there is no quorum, and in a minute - 85 lawmakers, one person more than the minimum restriction on declaring the meeting open. The chairman of the Federation Council, Valentina Matvienko, explained this fact by the fact that the latecomers were collected “piece by piece” and they asked “to join their voices,” however, for this, according to the regulations, re-registration should be carried out, for which a separate decision was required. However, this was not done, and as a result, 90 senators unanimously voted for the use of Russian troops in Ukraine ^{[19] [20] [21] [22]} .

On March 4, in an interview with Russian journalists, Putin said that “ we have a direct appeal from the current and legitimate [...] President of Ukraine Yanukovych on the use of the Armed Forces to protect the life, freedom and health of Ukrainian citizens” and “we reserve the right to use all available we have the means to protect these citizens ”-“ Russians and Ukrainians, in general the Russian-speaking population living in the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine ” ^[23] . At the same time, when asked by the journalist - “Was it [in the Crimea] Russian soldiers or not?”, Putin replied that “these were local self-defense forces. Look at the post-Soviet space - it is full of forms similar to the Russian one. Yes, go to the shops and buy. No, these are local self-defense forces. ” When asked about the possibility of Crimea joining Russia, Putin said that such an option was “not being considered” ^{[24] [25] [26]} . He added: “And I generally believe that only citizens living in one or another territory, in conditions of freedom of expression, in conditions of security, can and should determine their future” ^[27] . However, it was Yanukovych’s letter that justified and legitimized the annexation of Crimea to Russia , which occurred with the assistance of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation ^[28] .

On June 25, the Federation Council canceled the decree on the use of Russian troops in Ukraine ^[29] . Finally, President Putin recognized the widespread use of the Russian Armed Forces in Crimea only a year later, in an interview for the film “ Crimea. Way to the Homeland ” ^{[30] [31]} .

On January 17, 2017, the Yuriy Lutsenko announced that the Prosecutor General of Ukraine had received, upon request to the UN Secretariat, a certified photocopy of Viktor Yanukovych’s letter. The Prosecutor General’s Office considers this letter as irrefutable documentary evidence of high treason by the former president ^{[32] [33] [34]} . A day later, Ukrainian media published photocopies of the letter of Yanukovych, as well as the letter of Vitaliy Churkin, certifying the authenticity of the document ^{[35] [36]} . On February 15, Lutsenko said that former deputy of the State Duma from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation emigrated to Ukraine Denis Voronenkov during testimony in the framework of the Yanukovych case said that the president of Ukraine sent two letters requesting the introduction of troops - “one to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the second to the Russian State Duma " ^{[37] [38]}

February 20, Vitaly Churkin suddenly died in New York ^[39] ; the cause of death was not made public ^[40] . Two days later, on February 22, Viktor Yanukovych said at a press conference that he had sent Putin not a letter, but a statement in which he “did not ask to send troops to Ukraine” ^{[41] [42]} . On March 7, the Acting Head of the Main Directorate of International Legal Cooperation of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Russia Denis Grunis, in response to a request from the Head of the Office of International Legal Cooperation and European Integration of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine, Yevgeny Pikalov, said that “neither the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation nor the Federation Council of the Federal meeting of the Russian Federation any statement by V. Yanukovych with a request to use the Armed forces of the Russian Federation on Ithor Ukraine have been received and these public authorities are not considered " ^{[43] [44] [45]} .

On March 16, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that "no letter has been officially received by the presidential administration" and "no such document has been registered with the presidential administration." Peskov could not explain the fact of the document’s demonstration at the UN Security Council meeting ^{[46] [47] [48]} . However, already on March 17, the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, in a commentary on the Moscow Says radio station, said that there was no official appeal to Putin, since “this is not a letter,” but “a statement by Yanukovych,” and “Churkin was authorized by him quote in the UN Security Council, as openly stated. The statement was also circulated as a Security Council document, ”which, according to her, is“ the usual practice of communicating relevant materials to Council members ” ^{[49] [50]} . Subsequently, Zakharova wrote on her Facebook page that “the statement was signed by the President of Ukraine, read to the UN Security Council as very indicative information about the situation in Ukraine, but there were no decisions on it inThe AP or the Federation Council of Russia was not accepted ” ^{[51] [52]} . The media monitoring this situation have suggested that conflicting statements by Russian officials are aimed at helping Viktor Yanukovych escape responsibility in a criminal case of high treason brought against him in Ukraine ^{[53] [54]} .

On March 23, Denis Voronenkov was killed in the center of Kiev ^[55] . Attorney General Yuriy Lutsenko called the Voronenkov’s murder “a routine exemplary execution of a witness for the Kremlin” ^[56] , and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that he “was one of the main witnesses of Russian aggression against Ukraine and, in particular, the role of Yanukovych in bringing Russian to Ukraine troops ” ^[57] .

On May 4, in an interview with TASS, Senator Andrei Klishas refuted the words he said at the beginning of March 2014, stating that “Yanukovych did not receive any appeals to send Russian troops to Ukraine and other contents to the Federation Council, there were no documents on the agenda included, was not distributed among the members of the Federation Council and the subject of consideration [...] was not ” ^{[58] [59]} . In May-June of the same year, the Anatoly Matios in an interview with Ukrainian media said that in the framework of the Yanukovych’s case, the military prosecutor’s office “received documents certified by the official seals of the UN and the mission of Ukraine to the UN that Mr. Churkin submitted on behalf of the Russian Federation " ^{[60] [61]} . On September 28, it was reported that according to the results of a linguistic examination, “there were no calls to change Ukraine’s borders and overthrow its constitutional system in media interviews, public statements of Yanukovych and in a letter dated March 1, 2014,” however, “Yanukovych’s statements and his letter to Putin could be used for actions violating the sovereignty and inviolability of the borders of Ukraine ” ^[62] . During testimony on December 11, former Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk said at a hearing in the Obolon court of Kiev that “Yanukovych’s appeal played a key role in legitimizing the entry of Russian troops [to Crimea]. I do not exclude that Viktor Yanukovych and Vladimir Putin agreed on such a statement. This was a very important statement for Russia, they wanted to legitimize the deployment of troops, to avoid responsibility for the illegal annexation of Crimea, including in international structures ” ^[63] .

On March 2, 2018, at a press conference in TASS in Moscow, Yanukovych, along with his lawyer Vitaly Serdyuk, made public and presented to the journalists the original appeal to the President of Russia on five sheets of typewritten text, including a separate appendix to it in the form of a “statement”. Despite the fact that the text of the statement fully coincides with the letter read out by Churkin, including regarding the request to “use the armed forces of the Russian Federation,” Yanukovych said that he was not asking Putin to send troops, but to hold consultations on the introduction of a “police peacekeeping mission” " ^{[64] [65] [66] [67] [68] [69] [70] [71]} .

In April 2018, the former Yuri Ilyin, via video link from the Crimea, told a meeting of the Obolonsky court of Kiev that, together with the commander of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Stanislav Shulyak, he took part in Yanukovych’s consultation on writing a letter to Putin regarding the issue of “The possibility of deploying a police or peacekeeping mission” ^[72] . In April, Shulyak confirmed the testimony by video link from Simferopol, noting that he participated in the discussion of only “one issue - the peacekeeping police mission with the participation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation or other signatory countries of the amicable agreement”, adding that the presence of Russian troops was envisaged throughout Of Ukraine "in order to ensure the inadmissibility of the conflict, to prevent bloodshed", and answered the clarifying question of the prosecutor about whether troops were to be stationed throughout Ukraine, said tionary - "Of course, because the conflict was all over Ukraine!" ^[73] . In August, the state prosecutor in the Yanukovych case, the prosecutor Ruslan Kravchenko, confirmed in an interview with Gromada Television that Shuliak and Ilyin testified, noting that writing the letter was “the first crime of the accused Yanukovych” ^[74] :

According to the prosecutor’s office, at the time of writing the letter, Yanukovych was in an unspecified place in Russia ^[75] .

• Speech by V.I. Churkin, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN, at an open meeting of the UN Security Council on the situation in Ukraine (Neopr.) . Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations (March 3, 2014).