Yanukovych was warned twice by Ukraine’s Security Service about looming Russian invasion
The Head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) warned former president Yanukovych twice about an existing threat to the national security of Ukraine from Russia. He sent two letters to the president regarding the threat: one dated January 15, 2013 and another dated February 17, 2014.
The UNIAN news agency reports that Prosecutor Ruslan Kravchenko provided this information in the Obolonskyi District Court of Kyiv, during the questioning of MP Mykhailo Dobkin. According to Kravchenko, this information shatters the defense of Yanukovych’s lawyers, who argued that their client was unaware of the existing threat to the Ukrainian sovereignty and integrity from Russia.
The tribunal possesses unclassified materials evidencing that the Head of the SBU sent letters to Ukraine’s then-President Yanukovych warning him about a Russian threat to the national security of Ukraine. In the letter dated January 15 of 2013, Yanukovych was informed of an inter-agency governmental commission forming in the Russian Federation in order “to create political, humanitarian and economic conditions favorable for the intervention in Ukraine.” The letter stated that the Russian President coordinated the commission.
Goals pursued by the Russian Federation included “establishing dominance of Russian energy companies in the Ukrainian market and spreading influence over the communications, machine-building, marine and other vital sectors.”
The Obolonskyi District Court of Kyiv is currently considering the case against ex-president Viktor Yanukovych, who is accused of state treason. The defendant has yet to make appearances in court.