Putin’s personal bodyguard, Sergey Morozov, and former commander of the Southern Military District, Alexander Galkin, were involved in the illegal border crossing by fugitive Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014.
This was reported to Ukrinform by Denys Ivanov, the prosecutor handling the Maidan cases, while commenting on the decision of the Podilskyi District Court of Kyiv, which sentenced Yanukovych to 15 years in prison for illegal border crossing.
“At that time, Sergey Petrovich Morozov, an employee of the Federal Guard Service responsible for Putin’s personal security, and Alexander Viktorovich Galkin, the commander of the Southern Military District, were involved in the illegal crossing of the Ukrainian state border by former President Viktor Yanukovych,” Ivanov said.
According to Ivanov, during the trial, the routes and dates of Yanukovych’s movements, as well as the individuals who assisted him, were established.
“All these events occurred under the escort of Russian Federation special services and the Russian Armed Forces. The Federal Guard Service, military personnel from the Southern Military District, and the Russian Black Sea Fleet were involved. One of the phones Yanukovych used during his movements had connections with Putin’s personal bodyguard,” he added.
Ivanov noted that crucial direct evidence in the case came from testimonies of some members of Ukraine’s Department of the State Protection, who refused Yanukovych’s offer to flee Ukraine with him and betray their military oath.
Another key piece of evidence was telecommunications data, recording the phone numbers used by Yanukovych and his security personnel while moving across Ukraine and Russia, linked to the locations of mobile network base stations.
“The verdict legally confirmed how and with whom former President Yanukovych left Ukrainian territory. It was proven in court that he did so illegally, transporting close associates and inciting the Department of the State Protection servicemen to desert,” said Prosecutor Ivanov, who represented the state prosecution.
As reported by Ukrinform, on April 28, the Podilskyi District Court of Kyiv sentenced former President Viktor Yanukovych to 15 years in prison for illegal border crossing and inciting desertion. The court also sentenced Kostiantyn Kobzar — at the time, Deputy Chief of the State Guard Department and Head of the President’s Security Service — to ten years of imprisonment.
in June 2022, the State Bureau of Investigation submitted to the court the indictment against former President Viktor Yanukovych and his security chief Kostiantyn Kobzar. The defendants were accused of inciting and committing desertion, as well as the illegal transfer of individuals across Ukraine’s state border.
Investigators established that on 23 February 2014, at approximately 1:30, Viktor Yanukovych, acting in concert with his security personnel and other individuals, illegally transported at least 20 persons across the state border of Ukraine, outside of a designated checkpoint, utilizing three helicopters belonging to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, departing from the vicinity of Urzuf village, Mangush district, Donetsk region, to the territory of the Russian Federation.
Moreover, it was determined that on 24 February 2014, Viktor Yanukovych, having decided to permanently flee Ukraine, while located at a military facility of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the Gagarinsky District of Sevastopol, incited the Head of his Security Service, Kostiantyn Kobzar, to commit desertion.
Subsequently, the serviceman evaded military service and, with the assistance of Russian security forces, departed Ukrainian territory by sea overnight on 24 February 2014, alongside the former president and several other individuals, failing to return to his military duties thereafter.
Source: Putin's personal bodyguard Morozov involved in Yanukovych’s 2014 escape – prosecutor
