European Union member countries on Thursday (August 4th) imposed sanctions on former pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and his son Oleksandr for their alleged role in the security threat to Ukraine. Ukraine.
The European Council said in a statement that the two men have been added to a list of European sanctions put in place "
in response to the unjustified Russian military aggression against Ukraine
".
To discover
Follow information on the war in Ukraine with the Figaro application
Viktor Yanukovych presided over Ukraine from February 2010 to February 2014, when he was overthrown by a popular uprising against the turn taken by his government, which had turned away from the West to get closer to Moscow.
President Putin's Russia reacted to the defeat of its ally by seizing the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and an enclave in the eastern region of Donbass.
In February, Moscow launched an all-out offensive against Ukraine.
Several member states of the European Union and NATO provide kyiv with sophisticated weapons to help it defend itself, and Brussels has adopted a series of sanctions.
Read alsoIn Ukraine, the meteoric rise in the number of amputees
"
Role in achieving the territorial integrity
" of Ukraine
The EU believes that 72-year-old Viktor Yanukovych, living in Russia, still plays "
a role in undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine
".
The statement published Thursday in the EU's official journal accuses him of plotting to try to return to power in Ukraine if the Russian invasion manages to overthrow President Volodymyr Zelensky.
"
According to different sources, Mr. Viktor Yanukovych was part of a special Russian operation aimed at replacing the Ukrainian president with him, during the first stages of the illegal military aggression against Ukraine
," the newspaper said.
His son was placed under sanction for the same reason and for having "
carried out transactions with separatist groups in the Donbass region
”.
The 49-year-old is accused of enriching himself through connections in his father's former regime and owning businesses and real estate in the self-proclaimed '
republics
' of Donetsk and Lugansk, controlled territories by pro-Russian forces in the Donbass.
As sanctioned persons, Viktor Yanukovych and his son will be subject to an EU visa ban and a freeze on any assets held in EU countries.
