A Ukrainian court has ordered the arrest in absentia of former President Viktor Yanukovych, accusing him of treason in connection with an agreement he signed in 2010 to extend Russia’s lease for naval facilities in Crimea.
The agreement, widely known in Ukraine as the Kharkiv Treaty, allowed Russia to keep its Black Sea Fleet in the Crimean port of Sevastopol.
Yanukovych, who fled to Russia in 2014 after mass protests, has already received 13 years in prison in absentia for treason.
The case was related to a letter he sent to Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 1, 2014, asking him to use the Russian army and police to restore order in Ukraine.
It was not possible to get a comment from Yanukovych immediately.
He had previously denied all charges against him.
The Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine said that a Kiev court on Monday ruled to arrest Yanukovych because the Kharkov agreement allowed Russia to increase the number of troops in Ukraine, as well as to seize and annex Crimea in 2014.
Yanukovych’s actions violated the constitution and “to the detriment of sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of defense, state and economic security of Ukraine provided assistance to a foreign state.”
Ukrainian investigators told Yanukovych in January last year that he was suspected of treason over the Kharkiv Treaty.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 and used the Black Sea Fleet to fire on Ukrainian targets as part of what Putin called a “special military operation.”
https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/crime/ukraine-court-orders-ex-presidents-arrest-c-6911376
