
Looters have gutted the palatial mansion of despot Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych's evil enforcer two years after he fled to Russia.

General Viktor Pshonka was once Ukraine's most powerful lawman, and his mansion in one of Kiev's most exclusive suburbs was designed to ensure everyone knew it.

Chandeliers, leather armchairs and 'gold' statues littered the gilded rooms, while people could entertain themselves with a game of snooker, or by playing the ostentatious white grand piano.

Guests invited for a meal would not fail to miss the swimming pool and state-of-the-art Jacuzzi - because they had been placed right next to his dining room.

Pshonka even had paintings of himself made up as Caesar and Napoleon - standing with his Yanukovych regime colleagues as though victorious generals on a 19th century battlefield.

But none of that remains now: after he fled in February 2014, the looters moved in - and these pictures from inside the crumbling mansion reveal just how much they took.

BEFORE: General Viktor Pshonka's gaudy home, decked with extravagant gilded furniture and golden statues in February 2014 - the month he fled the Ukraine after his boss President Yanukovych was ousted by pro-democracy protestors

AFTER: Looters took no time at all in reaching the mansion, in one of the most exclusive areas of the capital Kiev, and later gutted it, taking everything from the chandeliers to the fireplaces and furniture (pictured)

BEFORE: A revolutionary sits in Pshonka’s armchair and looks at a painting of Yanukovych rewarding Pshonka with roses - one of several similarly eyebrow-raising portraits done of the enforcer during his reign of terror

AFTER: Nothing is left of that room now, with even Pshonka’s carpet stolen as organised looters systematically dismantled the interior

BEFORE: A revolutionary raids the fridge in Pshonka's house in February 2014. Pshonka and his bodyguards had just been caught on camera trying to escape the country through the eastern city of Donetsk - only to fail miserably and have to take a different route to safety

AFTER: Pshonka's kitchen barely recognisable after thieves stole all the kitchen appliances, fittings, door and the doorframe

BEFORE: Pshonka installed a top-of-the-range hot tub and swimming pool next to his dining room windows so that visitors could see them as they enjoyed their meals. It is not known how Pshonka funded his excess - but he is now accused of embezzlement

AFTER: Pillagers knocked a hole through the wall in order to remove the Jacuzzi. They even stole the light fittings

BEFORE: Pshonka allegedly oversaw the theft of millions from the state, fuelling his profligate lifestyle and created this 'orgy of kitsch'

AFTER: Light switches, floorboards were ripped out and even the stairs were stolen over the two years since he avoided justice

Allies: Prosecutor general Viktor Pshonka (left) was deposed Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych's (right) enforcer, even putting the former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and her bespectacled former Internal Affairs Minister Yuriy Lutsenko into prison

Pshonka has not seen what became of his home: he was forced to flee Kiev when pro-democracy demonstrators ousted Yanukovych on 22 February 2014, heading for the safety of Russia.

He is now a wanted man, accused of conspiring to murder 103 protesters in Kiev's Independence Square, most of whom were shot down by sniper fire. They were killed for daring to revolt against his boss's decision to ally with Russia's President Putin instead of the EU.

Pshonka also allegedly oversaw the theft of millions of dollars from the state, fuelling his profligate lifestyle.

Then there are the other allegations.

During his time in office, Pshonka commanded 18,500 Soviet-style prosecutors who covered up the torture complaints of thousands of prisoners.

After Yanukovych took power in 2010, he even locked up the blonde-braided former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and her bespectacled former Internal Affairs Minister Yuriy Lutsenko.

Pshonka's prosecutor's office was a Soviet-era behemoth that held society in check with a vice-like grip. It not only prosecuted investigations, but authorised and sometimes conducted them.

Ukraine's Prosecutor General even has a role in appointing and dismissing judges – despite the bias this builds into the judiciary when it is deciding on a prosecution. This enormous power fuelled Pshonka's sizable ego.

But he was brought back to earth with a bump as he tried to escape.

Humiliating footage shows him bundling through the eastern city of Donetsk's airport's security check to reach a private jet – only to be thwarted and have to head east overland for Russia.

BEFORE: Ukrainian revolutionaries play on Pshonka’s grand piano. He is also accused of conspiring to murder 103 protesters mowed down by sniper fire during the uprising

AFTER: The piano, curtains, chandelier, and even flooring is gone as a local security guard looks through the ruins of Pshonka’s house

BEFORE: A revolutionary sits on the snooker table in Pshonka’s attic, alongside a collection of art. There are questions over why the current government did not step in to stop the looting, with many wanting the items taken for the good of the wider country

AFTER: The room is barely recognisable, with even the light switches gone. Locals say the snooker table was driven off in a truck

BEFORE: Pshonka's office at home was smothered with religious artefacts despite his role as the dictator Yanuovych's enforcer

AFTER: Looters spared nothing, taking desk, crucifix and chandelier - and seemingly all the family pictures from the wall

BEFORE; Pshonka’s enormous power encouraged him to think of himself as a Napoleonic general

AFTER: Now all that remains of his glory days is the karaoke mix CD from his 57th birthday party, five years ago

BEFORE: Revolutionaries admire the four-poster bed of one of Pshonka’s grandchildren - a girl who didn't even have time to take her teddy bear

AFTER: Children’s toys and four-poster bed all gone, thieves even removed the skirting board to steal copper electricity cables

Revolutionaries wasted no time, and broke into his mansion for the first time immediately after he fled in 2014.

Inside, they discovered an orgy of kitsch - velvet curtains with gilded stripes, chaise-longues in a faux aquarium, marble busts, four-poster beds and what appeared to be a Faberge egg.

What followed was a free for all, with some individuals walking out with whatever they could carry.

Activists then pleaded with new President Petro Poroshenko to seize Pshonka's opulent home and recover its valuable assets for the impoverished state.

Instead, the country's current pro-EU government did nothing to stop the thieves.

Last October plunderers were able to live for a month and half in Pshonka's luxury home while they tore apart its interior.

Many paintings and other portable possessions were already gone when the unmarked trucks arrived, but an organized workforce systematically dismantled the mansion's interior.

The snooker table and grand piano were packed up and driven off.

Light switches, floorboards and swimming pool tiles were stripped out - carpet cut up and folded away. Even the stairs were stolen.

One witness even suspects state officials were involved in the robbery.

'I work in a house near here, so I could see the vans come and go all the time,' he told MailOnline. 'I think they were state trucks but I can't be sure - the number plates were covered.

'They were afraid - there are cameras everywhere, they didn't want their plates filmed. Nobody called the police. Nobody wants problems.'

BEFORE: Pshonka crammed his house with gaudy ornaments and golden statues, funded by massive corruption. But some have questioned whether it was state-owned trucks which came to take away the extravagant items from within the home

AFTER: Many statues were stolen when revolutionaries broke into the house in 2014, but nearly two years later the government let thieves strip it bare, taking chandeliers and even stairs. One witness said the number plates were covered, so it was hard to tell who they were

BEFORE: Pshonka’s mansion is located at one of Kiev’s most exclusive addresses, surrounded by the homes of Ukraine’s political elite

AFTER: Yet no one seemed to care when thieves stole statues, benches and even streetlamps from its grounds. The thieves who moved in last October were apparently uninterrupted as they stripped the house of everything it had

Yet somehow the authorities didn't interrupt the thieves during their six-week stay.

By the time they had finished, only a stack of family photos, a karaoke mix from Pshonka's 57th birthday and an empty bottle of luxury vodka remained.