The Obolonskyi District Court of Kyiv has sentenced former president Viktor Yanukovych to 13 years in prison in absentia.
Presiding Judge Vladislav Devyatko announced the court’s decision, the Ukrainian News Agency reports.
The court found Yanukovych guilty of committing crimes punishable under Section 1 of Article 111 (treason), Section 5 of Article 27, and Section 2 of Article 437 (aiding the conduct of a was of aggression) of the Ukrainian Penal Code.
The former president was acquitted of committing crimes under Section 3 of Article 110 (encroachment on Ukraine’s territorial integrity and inviolability of its borders, with grave consequences) of the Penal Code.
"His reformation and rehabilitation are impossible without isolation from society," the court ruled.
The court determined that the fact Yanukovych acted under the influence of the Russian authorities was a mitigating circumstance.
The court found no aggravating circumstances.
The court noted that Yanukovych’s assets remain frozen.
It ordered Yanukovych to pay UAH 98,561 in legal costs.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the prosecutor's office asked the court to sentence Yanukovych to 15 years in prison.
The former president’s defense lawyers asked the court to acquit him.
The court began considering the case against Yanukovych in May 2017.
Ninety court sessions were held and 52 witnesses, including President Petro Poroshenko, were cross-examined during the proceedings.
