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Just Like His Power, Ukrainian Ex-Leader Vanishes Into Thin Air Just Like His Power, Ukrainian Ex-Leader Vanishes Into Thin Air
(6 months later)
DONETSK, Ukraine — Ukraine’s acting government on Monday declared the former president, Viktor F. Yanukovych, a fugitive sought for mass murder, but it seemed at a loss to find the man whose authority had crumbled over the weekend. DONETSK, Ukraine — Ukraine’s acting government on Monday declared the former president, Viktor F. Yanukovych, a fugitive sought for mass murder, but it seemed at a loss to find the man whose authority had crumbled over the weekend.
Accompanied only by one of his oldest and toughest partners in business and politics, a handful of loyal guards and perhaps his girlfriend, Mr. Yanukovych vanished late Sunday night, driving off in a three-car convoy and severing all communication.Accompanied only by one of his oldest and toughest partners in business and politics, a handful of loyal guards and perhaps his girlfriend, Mr. Yanukovych vanished late Sunday night, driving off in a three-car convoy and severing all communication.
The new government, notably scorned by neighboring Russia, faces an array of enormous tasks: how to guarantee law and order in a country where discredited police and politicians of all stripes command no loyalty; a crumbling economy veering on bankruptcy; a yawning cultural gap between east and west. But perhaps no immediate priority ranks quite as high as finding the man now universally blamed — even by his recent political allies — for the carnage last week in Kiev and for the corrupt and decrepit conditions in this former Soviet republic of 46 million.The new government, notably scorned by neighboring Russia, faces an array of enormous tasks: how to guarantee law and order in a country where discredited police and politicians of all stripes command no loyalty; a crumbling economy veering on bankruptcy; a yawning cultural gap between east and west. But perhaps no immediate priority ranks quite as high as finding the man now universally blamed — even by his recent political allies — for the carnage last week in Kiev and for the corrupt and decrepit conditions in this former Soviet republic of 46 million.
The government made its chief appeal on Monday through the Facebook account of the interim interior minister, Arsen Avakov, who apparently decided to publicize his quest for Mr. Yanukovych in hopes that Ukrainians, and border guards in particular, would prevent him from fleeing.The government made its chief appeal on Monday through the Facebook account of the interim interior minister, Arsen Avakov, who apparently decided to publicize his quest for Mr. Yanukovych in hopes that Ukrainians, and border guards in particular, would prevent him from fleeing.
As Mr. Avakov told it, the flight of Ukraine’s most important fugitive was an escape odyssey worthy of James Bond.As Mr. Avakov told it, the flight of Ukraine’s most important fugitive was an escape odyssey worthy of James Bond.
It began on Friday, with the signing of a compromise accord brokered by the foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland. At the ceremony, Mr. Yanukovych, a tall, usually blustery 63-year-old, was still Ukraine’s president, but uncharacteristically grim and taciturn.It began on Friday, with the signing of a compromise accord brokered by the foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland. At the ceremony, Mr. Yanukovych, a tall, usually blustery 63-year-old, was still Ukraine’s president, but uncharacteristically grim and taciturn.
He apparently never returned to his official residence — the sumptuous spread ogled by his stunned citizens after it was handed over to opposition forces early Saturday. By then, the president was on the run, maybe with his girlfriend, 24 years his junior, clinging to the dwindling spoils of his evaporating presidency in a dash by helicopter and road.He apparently never returned to his official residence — the sumptuous spread ogled by his stunned citizens after it was handed over to opposition forces early Saturday. By then, the president was on the run, maybe with his girlfriend, 24 years his junior, clinging to the dwindling spoils of his evaporating presidency in a dash by helicopter and road.
Eventually, his entourage bolted into the night late Sunday in the region of Crimea, riding in a three-car cavalcade and cutting, as Mr. Avakov wrote Monday, “all forms of communication.”Eventually, his entourage bolted into the night late Sunday in the region of Crimea, riding in a three-car cavalcade and cutting, as Mr. Avakov wrote Monday, “all forms of communication.”
Mr. Avakov was hoping that someone would find the fugitive, much as Iraqis and American forces hunted for Saddam Hussein, or Libyans for Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.Mr. Avakov was hoping that someone would find the fugitive, much as Iraqis and American forces hunted for Saddam Hussein, or Libyans for Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.
Apparently fearing their fate — Hussein was hanged after a peremptory trial, Colonel Qaddafi shot by opponents while on the run — Mr. Yanukovych fled.Apparently fearing their fate — Hussein was hanged after a peremptory trial, Colonel Qaddafi shot by opponents while on the run — Mr. Yanukovych fled.
He headed by helicopter for his political base in eastern Ukraine, but found no comfort. First, he failed to join allies gathering in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city. Next, moving again by helicopter, Mr. Yanukovych found the authorities blocking takeoff of two private Falcon jets awaiting him at the airport in his hometown, Donetsk. He fled again, this time by car, headed for the Crimean Peninsula, a stronghold of his Russian allies where the Kremlin’s Black Sea fleet is based at the port of Sevastopol.He headed by helicopter for his political base in eastern Ukraine, but found no comfort. First, he failed to join allies gathering in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city. Next, moving again by helicopter, Mr. Yanukovych found the authorities blocking takeoff of two private Falcon jets awaiting him at the airport in his hometown, Donetsk. He fled again, this time by car, headed for the Crimean Peninsula, a stronghold of his Russian allies where the Kremlin’s Black Sea fleet is based at the port of Sevastopol.
Once there, Mr. Avakov said, the fugitive holed up in a private sanitarium before heading for Belbek Airport, in the south of the peninsula. Apparently alerted to waiting authorities there, Mr. Yanukovych assembled his security detail, asked who would remain with him and who would quit, and then fled anew with Andriy Klyuyev, most recently head of his administration and a partner in business and politics since their rise together in Donetsk, a tough coal-mining town.Once there, Mr. Avakov said, the fugitive holed up in a private sanitarium before heading for Belbek Airport, in the south of the peninsula. Apparently alerted to waiting authorities there, Mr. Yanukovych assembled his security detail, asked who would remain with him and who would quit, and then fled anew with Andriy Klyuyev, most recently head of his administration and a partner in business and politics since their rise together in Donetsk, a tough coal-mining town.
By Monday evening, rumors abounded of the president making it to the safety of a Russian ship in Sevastopol. Or his yacht. Or of hiding out in Balaklava, once a secret Soviet port and famed in the 19th century as the site of the infamous Charge of the Light Brigade by British cavalry in the Crimean War. Or of re-emerging in the Donetsk region, hiding either in a nearby monastery or his birthplace, the town of Yenakiyeve, 40 miles from Donetsk.By Monday evening, rumors abounded of the president making it to the safety of a Russian ship in Sevastopol. Or his yacht. Or of hiding out in Balaklava, once a secret Soviet port and famed in the 19th century as the site of the infamous Charge of the Light Brigade by British cavalry in the Crimean War. Or of re-emerging in the Donetsk region, hiding either in a nearby monastery or his birthplace, the town of Yenakiyeve, 40 miles from Donetsk.
The town, apparently, was also the birthplace of 39-year-old Lyubov Polezhay, who was identified by Dmitry Gnap, author of a blog on the site of the newspaper Ukrainskaya Pravda, as the president’s girlfriend.The town, apparently, was also the birthplace of 39-year-old Lyubov Polezhay, who was identified by Dmitry Gnap, author of a blog on the site of the newspaper Ukrainskaya Pravda, as the president’s girlfriend.
According to the website, documents and photographs found in Mr. Yanukovych’s sprawling residence just outside Kiev pointed to Ms. Polezhay, not his wife of over 40 years, Ludmila, as his live-in companion. Ms. Polezhay’s daughter, Maria, 12, apparently lived in the presidential residence, too, and attended a select private school with the children of foreign residents of Kiev, the blog suggested.According to the website, documents and photographs found in Mr. Yanukovych’s sprawling residence just outside Kiev pointed to Ms. Polezhay, not his wife of over 40 years, Ludmila, as his live-in companion. Ms. Polezhay’s daughter, Maria, 12, apparently lived in the presidential residence, too, and attended a select private school with the children of foreign residents of Kiev, the blog suggested.
Mrs. Yanukovych is said to have retreated to Donetsk, where local journalists working for Donskiye Novosti said she and the president’s son, Oleksandr, who is said to have amassed a fortune during his father’s rule, had been among the residents of a complex surrounded by a 12-foot wall on the city outskirts.Mrs. Yanukovych is said to have retreated to Donetsk, where local journalists working for Donskiye Novosti said she and the president’s son, Oleksandr, who is said to have amassed a fortune during his father’s rule, had been among the residents of a complex surrounded by a 12-foot wall on the city outskirts.
That complex appeared deserted on Monday. At the main entrance, a guardhouse was empty, except for a disconnected computer monitor and keyboard. Doorbells rung at neighboring houses went unanswered. However, steam rose from one large wing of the main residence, and ventilators were running.That complex appeared deserted on Monday. At the main entrance, a guardhouse was empty, except for a disconnected computer monitor and keyboard. Doorbells rung at neighboring houses went unanswered. However, steam rose from one large wing of the main residence, and ventilators were running.
The Yanukovych clan apparently always planned on a longer stay in this complex of perhaps a dozen homes adjacent to an iced-over lake. Both inside and outside the forbidding walls, dozens of young trees have been planted, some coniferous, others starkly bare on a wintry day.The Yanukovych clan apparently always planned on a longer stay in this complex of perhaps a dozen homes adjacent to an iced-over lake. Both inside and outside the forbidding walls, dozens of young trees have been planted, some coniferous, others starkly bare on a wintry day.
Equally bleak was the description given by the governor of the Donetsk region — with 4.7 million inhabitants, the country’s most populous — of his last contacts with Mr. Yanukovych, the man who had plucked him from a factory directorship to politics in 2010.Equally bleak was the description given by the governor of the Donetsk region — with 4.7 million inhabitants, the country’s most populous — of his last contacts with Mr. Yanukovych, the man who had plucked him from a factory directorship to politics in 2010.
“In the last three months,” the governor, Andrei V. Shishatsky, said at a news conference, “I did not have a personal meeting with Yanukovych — only phone calls.”“In the last three months,” the governor, Andrei V. Shishatsky, said at a news conference, “I did not have a personal meeting with Yanukovych — only phone calls.”
“I think the recordings will be found by the new powers,” he said, referring to the acting government. “And that will show — I listened.”“I think the recordings will be found by the new powers,” he said, referring to the acting government. “And that will show — I listened.”
While speculation persisted that Mr. Yanukovych and his dwindling entourage might seek sanctuary in Russia, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations, Yuriy A. Sergeyev, who joined the chorus of Ukrainians denouncing the ousted president, cast doubt on whether he would be welcomed in Russia, or anywhere else. While speculation persisted that Mr. Yanukovych and his dwindling entourage might seek sanctuary in Russia, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations, Yuriy A. Sergeyev, who joined the chorus of Ukrainians denouncing the ousted president, cast doubt on whether he would be welcomed in Russia, or anywhere else. 
“Who will host these crooks?” Mr. Sergeyev asked reporters at the United Nations. “Who will host these crooks?” Mr. Sergeyev asked reporters at the United Nations.