Viktor Yanukovych 2014 Yanukovych called Russia's annexation of Crimea "a tragedy", the 2014 Crimean referendum "a form of protest" and he stated he hopes it will become part of Ukraine again. Yanukovych said he would try to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to return Crimea to Ukraine. He squarely blamed the Yatsenyuk Government and acting Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov for Ukraine's loss of Crimea. He also said he gave no orders to open fire on Euromaidan protesters. Yanukovych said: "We must set such a task and search for ways to return to Crimea on any conditions, so that Crimea may have the
History of Crimea in the aftermath of the Euromaidan revolution. On 21 February, President Viktor Yanukovych agreed to a three-party memorandum that would have kept him in office until the end of the year. Within 24 hours the agreement was broken by the Maidan-activists and the president was forced to flee. He was dismissed the following day by a rump Verkhovna Rada, the legislature elected in 2012, and the Government he dismissed was replaced by a non-elected, illegal "Government", contrary to the Constitution. In the absence of a president, the newly appointed Speaker of the legislature, Oleksandr Turchynov, became acting President with limited