Ukraine’s Viktor Yanukovych asks for Russian protection from ‘extremists’

Ukrainian fugitive President Viktor Yanukovych asked Russia on Thursday to protect him from “extremists,” as a respected Russian news organization reported that he was seen in a Moscow hotel and was now staying in a Kremlin sanatorium just outside the city.

Yanukovych, who fled from Ukraine’s capital Kyiv last week, said in the Thursday statement that he still considers himself to be the legitimate leader.

“I have to ask Russia to ensure my personal safety from extremists,” he said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.

Yanukovych has not been seen publicly since Saturday. While the West has recognized the new Ukrainian government, whose forces drove Yanukovych from power, Russia still considers him the legitimate president.

RBK reported Wednesday evening that Yanukovych was staying at the Barvikha sanatorium, which is run by the presidential administration’s property department. The spokesman for this department, Viktor Khrekov, told The Associated Press on Thursday that he has no information about this.

The RBK report was impossible to confirm, but security at the Ukraina Hotel was unusually heavy late Wednesday, with police watching from parked vehicles outside and guards posted throughout the lobby. Some of Yanukovych’s allies, also reported to have been at the hotel, may have still been there.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman also said he had no information about Yanukovych’s reported arrival in Moscow.

RBK said the information came from one of Russia’s wealthiest businessmen and was confirmed by a government official, neither of whom was identified. The article was under the byline of respected journalists, including RBK’s editor in chief Elizaveta Osetinskaya, who has high-level contacts in Russian business circles.

Armed men seize Crimean headquarters

Meanwhile, armed men seized the regional government headquarters and parliament in Ukraine’s Crimea on Thursday and raised the Russian flag, alarming Kyiv’s new rulers, who urged Moscow not to abuse its navy base rights on the peninsula by moving troops around.

“I am appealing to the military leadership of the Russian Black Sea fleet,” said Olexander Turchinov, acting president since the removal of Yanukovich last week. “Any military movements, the more so if they are with weapons, beyond the boundaries of this territory [the base] will be seen by us as military aggression.

Ukraine Protests

Pro-Russian demonstrators protested outside government buildings in Crimea, Ukraine, on Wednesday. (Darko Vojinovic/The Associated Press)

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry also summoned Russia’s acting envoy in Kyiv for immediate consultations.

There were mixed signals from Moscow, which put fighter jets along its western borders on combat alert, but earlier said it would take part in discussions on an International Monetary Fund (IMF) financial package for Ukraine. Ukraine has said it needs $35 billion US over the next two years to stave off bankruptcy.

The fear of military escalation prompted expressions of concern from the West, with NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen urging Russia not to do anything that would “escalate tension or create misunderstanding”.

Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski called the seizure of government buildings in the Crimea a “very dangerous game”.

It was not immediately known who was occupying the buildings in the regional capital Simferopol and they issued no demands, but witnesses said they spoke Russian and appeared to be ethnic Russian separatists.

Map: A divided Ukraine

European loyalties run highest in the Ukrainian-speaking west of the country, while the eastern half generally falls more into the Russian orbit. Hover over the red and blue dots to learn more about specific flashpoints in the conflict.

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