Ukraine’s exiled former president Viktor Yanukovich has been convicted in absentia by a Kiev court for aiding Moscow “in an aggressive war” that erupted in the country in 2014.

The conflict in Ukraine’s eastern regions began after Mr Yanukovich fled to Russia following the pro-democracy revolution that ousted him.

The treason verdict, announced on Thursday by a panel of three judges, carries a 13-year sentence, two years less than prosecutors had requested. Russia has refused to hand the former leader over to Kiev and he is unlikely to serve time in prison.

Mr Yanukovich’s lawyers said they plan to appeal against the verdict.

The court decision follows an 18-month trial and comes five years after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and continuing tensions over its role in the separatist war in the east of the country.

The trial centred on Mr Yanukovich’s involvement in Russia’s actions. The court said the former leader’s guilt was “proven by proper and admissible evidence”.

Documentation presented by prosecutors included a photocopy of a letter signed by Mr Yanukovich in which he called on Moscow to intervene militarily to “restore law and order” in Ukraine. It was presented in March 2014 by Russia’s permanent representative to the UN during a Security Council meeting that was held as Moscow moved to seize Crimea.

Mr Yanukovich signed the letter and sought refuge in Russia in February 2014 as his grip on domestic power crumbled after a violent police crackdown on protesters in Kiev, which left about 100 people dead.

The uprising, which began in November 2013 and was centred on Kiev’s Maidan Square, was triggered after the pro-Kremlin Mr Yanukovich decided not to sign EU association and trade agreements. Those deals have since been implemented.

The three Kiev judges arrive in court to read the verdict againstViktor Yanukovich. The former Ukraine leader is unlikely to serve his sentence as he remains in exile in Russia

The events of 2014 ratcheted up tensions between Russia and the west and led to the first batch of EU and US sanctions on Russia. These have since been expanded in response to Moscow’s alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election and what London claims was a Kremlin-backed nerve agent attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in the UK last year.

Mr Yanukovich has denied the charges against him. Testifying through lawyers and via a video link, he insisted he was ousted by an illegal coup. He was unable to give a final court statement via video late last year due to a sports injury that his lawyers said required hospitalisation.

Born in Ukraine’s coal mining Donetsk region in the east, Mr Yanukovich spent time as a teenager in a Soviet prison for robbery and assault. He rose to power with the help of influential local oligarchs after the collapse of the USSR, first becoming regional governor in Donetsk, before serving as Ukraine’s prime minister and president.

Ukrainian prosecutors plan to try Mr Yanukovich on other charges, including the 2014 crackdown on the Maidan protesters and for financial crimes allegedly committed under his rule.

The televised verdict was handed down ahead of a March 31 presidential contest, prompting analysts to predict it could boost the re-election chances of President Petro Poroshenko.

In a wide-open race with no candidate polling above 20 per cent, pollsters put the pro-western incumbent behind former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, a populist who has criticised utility tariff increases introduced under economic reforms backed by the west.

Taras Kuzio, a non-resident fellow at Johns Hopkins’ Foreign Policy Institute, said Mr Poroshenko’s chances had been lifted by his leading role in the recent decision by global Orthodox Christian leaders to grant Ukraine’s church independence from Moscow’s patriarchy.

The Yanukovich verdict would “rectify to some degree” but also draw attention to the “major weak point” of Mr Poroshenko’s reform record, said Mr Kuzio.

Apart from Mr Yanukovich, no senior politician has been convicted of any offence in Ukraine despite allegations of widespread graft under Mr Poroshenko’s tenure.

“The people want to see bandits in jail . . . this key demand from the Maidan revolution has yet to be fulfilled,” said Mr Kuzio.

Yanukovich’s path to exile and court November 2013 Viktor Yanukovich backs out of long-negotiated EU association and trade agreements; Maidan protests start February 18-20 2014 Protests turn violent; more than 100 killed as police fire on crowds February 21-22 Ukraine’s parliament installs acting president after Yanukovich flees February 24 Ukraine issues first arrest warrant for Yanukovich over killing of protesters February 27 Crimea’s parliament seized by armed forces wearing no insignia, later understood to be Russian forces February 28 Yanukovich appears in a conference in southern Russia claiming he remains the legitimate president of Ukraine March 3 Russia’s representative to the UN displays a copy of a letter signed by Yanukovich requesting Russia to intervene militarily in Ukraine to ‘restore law and order’ April 12 Separatists seize cities in eastern Ukraine, sparking a war that has claimed nearly 13,000 lives. March 2017 Ukrainian prosecutors file first case against Yanukovich in court, charging him with treason, encroachment on Ukraine’s territorial integrity and complicity in Russia’s war against the country January 24 2019 Kiev court finds Yanukovich guilty of the charges

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