Ukraine’s ousted president is a wanted man – he’s also a missing man.
Viktor Yanukovych is not in Kiev. The mayor of Kharkiv, where Yanukovych was Saturday, says he hasn’t seen him in a few days.
He’s also apparently not hiding in a bunker in a Ukrainian Orthodox monastery, a church spokesman said, swatting down the latest speculation. Ukraine’s onetime – and, by his account, current – President is facing a warrant for the “mass killings” of civilians.
Over the weekend, he fled to Kharkiv, a pro-Russian stronghold near the border. And he tried to board a charter plane in the eastern city of Donetsk but was turned away because he didn’t have documents. In his last known public act, he delivered a televised speech Saturday from Kharkiv in which he rejected Parliament’s ouster and vowed to fight. “I don’t plan to leave the country. I don’t plan to resign. I am the legitimate President,” he said Saturday in a televised broadcast. Critics weren’t impressed.
“It’s a remarkable situation when the most sought-after character in the country is the President of Ukraine, who is hiding and doing everything to leave the country, to avoid responsibility,” opposition leader Vitali Klitschko said Monday. The U.S. has expressed support for the action of Parliament. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with the Russian foreign minister Sunday and asked Russia not to not use military force in the country, according to a senior State Department official.
The State Department also warned U.S. citizens to defer all nonessential travel to Ukraine.
– Scott Randell (@DefinedByMvsic)