Viktor Yanukovych
1950 – ? Ukrainian President of Ukraine
Pro-Russian president of Ukraine ousted in the 2014 Maidan uprising, after which he fled to Russia.
- Religion
- Orthodox
- Affiliations
- Party of Regions
Viktor Yanukovych, a politician from the Donbas, was the pro-Russian candidate whose disputed 2004 win triggered the Orange Revolution and was overturned in a rerun. He came back to win the presidency in 2010. In late 2013 his decision to reject an association agreement with the European Union and turn toward Moscow set off the Euromaidan protests; after a deadly crackdown he fled in February 2014 and parliament removed him from office. Russia used the upheaval as the backdrop for annexing Crimea and stoking war in the Donbas. He has lived in exile in Russia since.
Connections
- ally of Vladimir Putin — The Kremlin backed him and sheltered him after his fall.
- rival of Volodymyr Zelensky — From the opposite, pro-Russian camp of Ukrainian politics.
- rival of Volodymyr Zelensky — From the opposite, pro-Western camp of Ukrainian politics.
In the timeline
- 2004 – 2005 Orange Revolution the candidate whose disputed win sparked the protests
- 2013 – 2014 Euromaidan and the Revolution of Dignity the ousted president
- 2014 The $5 billion figure and Ukraine's 2014 upheaval mentioned