Lawyer Says Yanukovych Wants To Return To Ukraine, Serve As President
A lawyer for Ukraine’s ousted former president, Viktor Yanukovych, says his client now wants to return to Ukraine and serve as its president.
Speaking in an interview with the Glavkom newspaper, lawyer Vitaly Sergyuk said Yanukovych intends “to return to Ukraine” from his exile in Russia and that “legal steps will be taken for this.”
Sergyuk maintains that Yanukovych did not relieve himself of his duties as president and opt out of ruling Ukraine.
The lawyer also maintains that the procedure to dismiss Yanukovych from office violated Ukraine’s constitution.
Yanukovych fled Ukraine in late February after months of protests against his rule turned violent, leaving scores of demonstrators in Kyiv dead.
A majority of 328 lawmakers in Ukraine’s 450-seat parliament voted on February 22, 2016, to remove Yanukovych from power, citing as grounds his abandonment of his office and the deaths of more than 80 protesters and police during the previous week.
Based on reporting by TASS and Glavkom
The Gun To Ukraine's Head: Today's Daily Vertical commentary from RFE/RL's Brian Whitmore:
Little Green Babies: Crimean Newborns Handed Military Draft Notices
By Steve Gutterman
Welcome to the world, kid -- and don't forget to report for duty in 16 years.
Three newborn babies were presented with military draft notices along with their birth certificates last week by the Russian authorities who control the Crimean Peninsula.
The boys were given the notices by the chief Russian military recruiting officer in the Simferopol district of Crimea, the Moscow-installed Justice Ministry for the region said on its website.
The documents were presented as part of a celebration of "the glorious sons of Russia" marking Defenders of the Fatherland Day, the February 23 holiday honoring the Russian military -- and, unofficially, all Russian men.
The ministry said the notices indicated the boys should report for military service on January 24, 2032.
Read more here.