Ukraine’s former president Viktor Yanukovich, who fled to Russia in 2014, is being prepared by the Kremlin for a special occasion, The Kyiv Independent tweeted, citing a report by Ukrainska Pravda, an online newspaper.
The report cited Ukrainian intelligence as saying that according to one scenario, Russia would attempt to declare him as “President of Ukraine”.
The Kremlin is preparing an information campaign or action for Yanukovich’s return to Ukraine, it said.
Viktor Yanukovich was elected as the fourth President of Ukraine in 2010 and remained in office until the Maidan revolution. Violent clashes involving protesters, riot police and shooters in Kyiv resulted in the overthrow of the Ukrainian government in February 2014 and the ouster of Yanukovich. The protest, which began in November 2013, was a response to Yanukovic’s refusal to sign a political and trade agreement with the European Union (EU).
Yanukovich then made his way to Russia, where he continues to live in exile under the protection of the Kremlin.