Yanukovych reportedly financing separatists with USD 32 bln of Ukraine’s money

Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and his entourage took USD 32 billion in cash to Russia, said Ukraine’s Acting Prosecutor General Oleg Makhnitsky in an interview with the Financial Times on April 28. He believes Yanukovych is using this money to finance the pro-Russian separatist movement in the eastern regions of Ukraine. Russia continues to harbor the ex-president who authorities have implicated in murder and grand corruption. Makhnitsky added that Russia refuses to cooperate with Ukraine to extradite the wanted former head of state who fled overnight on February 21-22. Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated many times that Yanukovych is still the legitimate president of Ukraine and that he does not recognize the interim government in Kyiv.

“Today the Russian Federation is officially harboring criminals, such as Yanukovych, (former Prosecutor General Viktor) Pshonka, (ex-Interior Minister Vitaliy) Zakharchenko, and does not recognize them as guilty,” said Makhnitsky.

In mid-April, the U.S. State Department announced in a press briefing that the U.S. had sent a group of FBI agents and financial and legal officials to Kyiv to facilitate the return of Ukrainian assets from abroad. An asset recovery team from Great Britain is also participating in the project. London is hosting a meeting this week devoted to recovering Ukrainian assets, according to BBC reports.