Support for the Sovereignty, Integrity, Democracy, and Economic Stability of Ukraine Act of 2014 of protests by Euromaidan and days of violent clashes between protesters and police in the Ukrainian capital Kiev—the President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, fled the capital on February 21. The Verkhovna Rada (the parliament of Ukraine) subsequently voted unanimously to impeach Yanukovych. This was followed by the interim appointment of the Yatsenyuk Government, as well as the appointment of a new Acting President of Ukraine, Oleksandr Turchynov. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said President Yanukovych was illegally impeached and that Russia continues to regard him as Ukraine’s legitimate president. Russia describes the Yatsenyk government as "self-proclaimed" and the events
Viktor Yanukovych with them. On 15 December 1967, at the age of 17, Yanukovych was sentenced to three years incarceration for participating in a robbery and assault. On 8 June 1970 he was convicted for a second time on charges of assault. He was sentenced to two years of imprisonment and did not appeal against the verdict. Decades later, Yanukovych characterized his arrests and incarceration as "mistakes of youth". In 1971, Yanukovych married Lyudmyla (née Nastenko), a niece of Yenakiyeve city judge Oleksandr Sazhyn. In July 1974, Yanukovych enrolled at the Donetsk Polytechnic Institute. In 1976, as a second-year student, he was