Russian politologists: Yanukovych can ask for asylum in Belarus

It cannot be ruled out that the former president of Ukraine will move to Minsk.

Interpol put Viktor Yanukovych, his son and some of his close associates on its wanted list some days ago.

Russian politologist Prof Oleg Matveichev at the Higher School of Economics is confident that Viktor Yanukovych is in Russia, to be more precise, in Moscow. The expert thinks that the fugitive politician will easily get temporary asylum in Russia in the near future as it was done by former CIA employee Edward Snowden, Sobesednik reports.

It cannot be ruled out, however, that Yanukovych can apply for asylum in another country – Belarus, Venezuela or anywhere else – if he wants.

Politologist Dmitry Zhuravlev, the general director of the Institute for Regional Problems, thinks Viktor Yanukovych can hide not in Russia but in a warmer country.

“He was going to leave Ukraine not for Russia (his plane wouldn't have been allowed to leave the country, so he chose a car), but for the Arab Emirates. I won't be surprised to learn that he is still there. He did it not for his love for Islam, but because he had money there. The UAE has good relations with the West, but they have even better relations with their money. I am not sure it would be easier to find him there than in Russia,” he said.

The politologist knows for sure that former Ukrainian PM Mykola Azarov<>/b?, who is also wanted by Interpol, lives in Austria and Oleksandr Yanukovych lives in Moscow. The son of the former president of Ukraine said in an interview in November he lived in the Russian capital and had opened a company in Saint Petersburg.