Ukraine Opens Criminal Case Into 'Mass Murder'

Updated Feb. 24, 2014 8:18 a.m. ET

A woman walks past burned trucks near parliament house in Kiev on Sunday. Reuters

Ukraine’s acting government on Monday declared ousted President Viktor Yanukovych a fugitive and said it was opening a criminal case into the “mass murder” of civilians stemming from violent clashes in the capital last week that left dozens dead.
The Interior Ministry’s acting head, Arsen Avakov, wrote on his Facebook FB -1.49% Facebook Inc. Cl A U.S.: Nasdaq $68.59 -1.04 -1.49% Feb. 21, 2014 4:00 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 70.59M AFTER HOURS $68.55 -0.04 -0.06% Feb. 21, 2014 7:59 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 403,384 P/E Ratio 112.44 Market Cap $174.89 Billion Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee $1,242,230 02/24/14 WhatsApp CEO: Aiming for Voice… 02/24/14 Telecoms Step Up Fight Over Ne… 02/23/14 Gordon Crovitz: A WhatsApp Mes… More quote details and news » FB in Your Value Your Change Short position page that Mr. Yanukovych is believed to be in Crimea, a southern region dominated by ethnic Russians that serves as home to Russia’s Black Sea naval fleet. A ministry official who declined to be named verified the post.
“As of this morning, a criminal case has been opened based on the mass murder of civilians. Yanukovych and some other officials have been put on the wanted persons list,” Mr. Avakov wrote.
He said Mr. Yanukovych is believed to have left his native Donetsk late Saturday and arrived in Crimea on Sunday, where he stayed in a privately run sanitarium, avoiding state-run facilities and his presidential dacha.
Upon learning that the acting parliament had ousted him from the presidency, Mr. Yanukovych hastily left the sanitarium and headed to a regional airport but never arrived there, Mr. Avakov said.
Instead, he decided to stay at a private home with his security detail. He then asked his guards whether they wanted to leave or stay with him, and some left with their weapons. Mr. Yanukovych and the remaining guards then piled into three cars and drove away, switching off all forms of communication. His current whereabouts is unknown, Mr. Avakov said.
The transformation of Mr. Yanukovych from the country’s elected leader to a hounded fugitive has been stunning in its speed. On Friday night, he joined with opposition leaders and European Union representatives to sign an accord aimed at bringing an end to several days of violence. He had agreed to early elections and changes to the constitution to limit his powers, but the next day fled the capital as his loyalists broke ranks with him and his support crumbled.

Ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych speaks with journalists during his meeting with Ukrainian media in Kiev, Ukraine, on Dec. 19. European Pressphoto Agency

Crimea is the only region of Ukraine to have remained largely impervious to the uprising that brought Mr. Yanukovych’s government to its knees. Some ethnic Russians in the region, leery of the pro-European uprising in the capital, have started forming militias as a show of strength.
Separately, Ukraine’s Finance Ministry said Monday that it will seek a loan from the U.S. and Poland within the next two weeks and will need to raise around $35 billion by the end of 2015.
“The situation in the financial sector is generally complicated but manageable,” the ministry said in the statement, signed by the acting finance minister, Yuri Kolobov.
The ministry suggested holding an international “donor” conference with the U.S., the EU and other International Monetary Fund members. The financial aid will be used to revamp the economy, carry out reforms and fulfill an agreement with the EU, the ministry said.
Ukraine walked away from talks over a trade agreement with Europe in late November in favor of closer ties with Russia, triggering a wave of street rallies that later erupted into violent clashes.
Concerns that Ukraine’s indebted economy could face default have recently sparked panic on markets, pushing bond yields higher and sending the hryvnia to all-time lows.
Ukraine’s interim president, Oleksandr Turchynov, has said he wants to move Ukraine onto a European path as soon as possible.
But European Union officials said Monday that the bloc will hold off on advancing talks on an economic agreement with Ukraine until after elections are held in May.
“The treaty is still on the table, [and] we will discuss it with the next legitimate government that comes from the next elections in Ukraine,” said Olivier Bailly, a spokesman for the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm. “We should let the transition process that has started leading to elections…continue.”
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Monday questioned the legitimacy of the acting government in Ukraine.
“Strictly speaking, today there is no one to talk to there. The legitimacy of a whole host of government bodies is raising huge doubts,” he told reporters in Sochi in remarks carried on state-run newswires.
“If people crossing Kiev in black masks and Kalashnikov rifles are considered a government, it will be difficult for us to work with such a government.”
Still, Mr. Medvedev said Russia intends to honor all “legally binding” agreements it made with the government of Mr. Yanukovych.
“Those agreements which are legally binding must be honored. We are not cooperating with personalities or isolated individuals. These are interstate relations,” he said. “We are neighbors, close nations, and we cannot run away from one another.”
“For us, Ukraine remains a serious and important partner,” he said.
In December, Russia negotiated a $15 billion bailout deal with Ukraine and agreed to supply the country with discounted natural gas.

Write to Lukas I. Alpert at lukas.alpert@wsj.com and Andrey Ostroukh at andrey.ostroukh@wsj.com

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