And here's an item on Yanukovych's press conference today from RFE/RL's news desk:
'Lies And Hatred': Ukrainian Ex-President Yanukovych Slams Treason Conviction, Blames Europe
Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine's pro-Russia former president, has again rejected his conviction by a Ukrainian court on charges of high treason over attempts to quash a 2014 pro-Western uprising known as the Maidan protests.
Speaking at the Moscow headquarters of Russia's state-run Rossiya Segodnya media agency, Yanukovych told journalists on February 6 that the verdict and 13-year prison sentence against him at his trial in absentia was "written on the instructions of the [Ukrainian] authorities."
He said pressure on the Kyiv court had been "unprecedented."
Judge Vladyslav Devyatko, of Kyiv's Obolon district court, announced the Kyiv court's January 24 ruling that Yanukovych "committed a crime against the foundation of Ukraine's national security" and was found guilty of "complicity in waging an aggressive war against Ukraine."
Yanukovych abandoned his office in late February 2014 and fled to Russia in the face of growing protests triggered by his decision to abandon a landmark trade deal with the European Union and, instead, pursue a Russian loan bailout and closer trade ties with Russia.
He fled Ukraine just days after dozens of people were killed in and around Kyiv's Maidan Nezalezhnosti, or Independence Square, when his government attempted to clamp down on pro-EU demonstrations.
Altogether, more than 100 people were killed and more than 1,100 people injured in clashes between Maidan protesters and Yanukovych's security forces. Some were shot dead by snipers.
The dead included 13 members of Yanukovych's security forces.
Yanukovych's ouster was soon followed by Russia's seizure and forcible annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and support from Moscow for pro-Russia separatists fighting against Ukrainian government forces in eastern Ukraine.
Yanukovych denies the charges against him, contending that the case against him was politically motivated.
"The verdict has nothing to do with the law," Yanukovych told journalists in Moscow on February 6.
"Everything [in the case] was built up on lies and hatred," he said. "The mass shootings at the Maidan were organized by the Maidan's masterminds."
"An independent group must be established to investigate the crimes on the Maidan," Yanukovych said on February 6.
He said such an investigatory group should include "the countries that mediated agreements" between his government and opposition leaders in 2014 before his ouster. Those countries included Russia, France, Germany, and Poland.
"If such a group had started investigations five years ago, there would have been no catastrophe," Yanukovych said, claiming that there "most likely would not have been war" in eastern Ukraine and that "the situation in Crimea would have been different."
Yanukovych also claimed on February 6 that European leaders "double-crossed me, betrayed me" and "were and remain responsible" for what happened in Ukraine in 2014.
"I would like them to answer my questions publicly," he said. "Why have I not received any answers from the leaders of those [European] countries to my questions? I have been asking them for many years."
A tweet from the Canadian ambassador to Kyiv:
Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has been holding a press conference today. Here is a quick translation of some of the things he's been saying (Translation by RFE/RL senior correspondent Merhat Sharipzhan):
On the Ukrainian Orthodox Church:
"It was absolutely wrong of the government, politicians, the president [of Ukraine] to interfere in issues of religion. The church has always been separated from the state and in the course of Ukraine's history, none of the presidents have allowed themselves to meddle in the church's affairs. Everything that happened to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was aimed not at decreasing tension, not to at ways to unite the nation, but at a split, discord, and hatred."
On the upcoming presidential election in Ukraine:
"We are now on the eve of the election of a new leader of the nation, which will be followed by parliamentary elections, and it is necessary to say here that [the current] authorities [of Ukraine] will do everything they can to use all their resources, including administrative leverage and various technologies, to allow them to falsify the elections' results, because without such falsifications President [Petro] Poroshenko will not be able [to win]."
On his recent conviction by a Ukrainian court for high treason:
"[My] verdict was written on the [Ukrainian} authorities' instructions and the pressure on the court was unprecedented. The verdict has nothing to do with the law. Everything [the case] was built up on lies and hatred. The mass shootings at the Maidan were organized by the Maidan's masterminds. There are materials from independent investigative journalists that are not linked with each other and they prove that."
On the probe against Viktor Medvechuk:
"We hear threats addressed against Viktor Medvedchuk. I personally can say that he has always had a position of his own, and he has always expressed it. When I was president I did not agree with his position very often, but I have never ordered anyone to shut his mouth or do something with him."
On an alleged "plot" against him:
"I heard that a special group of 12 people has been established, which is working [to kill me and other Ukrainian politicians]. I do not know if their target is just Viktor Medvedchuk or if I am also included. These kind of methods have nothing to do with democracy. I would like to address security service officers, military personnel here: do not follow criminal orders of the current authorities. The government will change and then what will you do?"
On what he thinks should happen after the next election:
"The first thing Ukraine's next government must do is to establish peace in Ukraine.... It will certainly not be so easy to do that in Donbas. It will take a longer time there. It will be necessary to respect patience and tolerance. Because the country has been split up and therefore it will be necessary to find ways and opportunities to reunite the country... However, the current government does not want to return peace to Ukraine."
On the Maidan:
"An independent group must be established to investigate the crimes on the Maidan. I call on the countries that mediated the agreements between [Ukrainian] authorities and the opposition in 2014 to do so. If such a group had started investigations five years ago there would have been no catastrophe. Most likely there would not have been a war in Donbas and the situation in Crimea would have been different. The country would not have been run by the people directly linked to the crimes and the horrific provocation, such as shooting at people on the Maidan."