Viktor Yanukovych is no longer Ukrainian president. Officially

On June 17, the Supreme Rada’s Voice of Ukraine newspaper published a law depriving Viktor Yanukovych of Ukrainian presidency.

Adopted by the Supreme Rada on Feb 4 and ratified by President Poroshenko a bit later, the law is to take force on June 18.

The goal of the law is to remove Yanukovych from the post of president because his illegal decision to stop performing his presidential duties jeopardized the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and the rights and freedoms of its citizens.

The law deprives Yanukovych not only of his position but of all related privileges. However, according to Ukraine’s Constitution, a president in Ukraine should be called one till his death unless impeached, which is not the case with Yanukovych.

Yanukovych was elected president on Feb 25 2010. On Feb 22 2014, the Supreme Rada terminated Yanukovych’s powers because he had escaped from the country for fear of being “punished for the crimes he had committed against human rights and freedoms.”

Following the coup in Kiev in Feb 2014, Yanukovych fled Ukraine and asked the Russian authorities to ensure his “personal protection from extremists.”

On Jan 20 2015, a court in Kiev ruled to arrest Yanukovych. The Interpol is looking for him. According to a special decree by the new Kiev regime, once caught, he should be extradited to the Ukrainian authorities so they could punish him for his crime, particularly, for “misusing large sums and embezzling money as part of organized criminal group.”