Victor Yanukovych, the fugitive President of Ukraine has been spotted at a Moscow hotel, reports claim.
A well-known Russian news organisation reported that Yanukovych, who went underground Thursday amid bloody protests in the capital Kiev, also sought protection from the Russian government from "extremists," reports the Associated Press citing the news agency. He has now taken shelter in a Kremlin sanatorium outside the city.
"I have to ask Russia to ensure my personal safety from extremists," he said in a statement, reports the news agency in Russia.
The fugitive president says he is still the legitimate president of Ukraine despite being deposed. "I still consider myself to be the legal head of the Ukrainian state," he said in statement, reports the Agence France-Presse. He also said that the recent decisions taken by the country's parliament "do not have legitimate character."
Although the West recognizes the new Ukrainian parliament, for Russia Yanukovych is still the country's lawful president, reports AP.
A Russian analytical newspaper, RBK, reported Wednesday evening that Yanukovych was staying at the Barvikha sanatorium. The place is managed by the presidential administration's property department.
Prior to Barvikha, it was reported that Yanukovych spent Tuesday night at Moscow's Radisson Royal Hotel, commonly known by its former name, the Hotel Ukraina, the newspaper said. The hotel's general director, Dmitry Yelizarov, told the Russian news agency Interfax that the ousted Ukrainian president had "not stayed at our hotel."
Mikhail Margelov, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament's upper house, denied the rumors and speculations of Yanukovych being in Russia at all. "I know definitely that Yanukovych is not in Russia and, in my modest opinion, Russia would not have granted him asylum," Margelov told Russia's RT network.
Meanwhile, in Crimea in Ukraine, the Russian flag was raised after masked gunmen seized the parliament and the Cabinet building in the Simferopol area. Ukraine lawmaker and Crimea native Andrei Semchenko told The Los Angeles Times that two units of gunmen came around 5:30 a.m. wearing camouflage. "They used a couple of stun grenades to break in and pushed the police guards stationed inside out into the street," Semchenko said. "They acted very professionally and seemed to be fully aware of the location of offices and infrastructure in both buildings."
He also said that the masked men spoke Russian and nearly 50 entered the Cabinet building and around 70 went inside the parliament. The interim government in Ukraine has asked the Russian embassy for an explanation a about the gunmen in Crimea.
