After Meeting with Putin, Yanukovych Was Hospitalized with a Hypertensive Crisis, Says Bohoslovska

Former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, after a meeting with Vladimir Putin in the autumn of 2013, suffered a hypertensive crisis. Former MP Inna Bohoslovska claims that after this trip the position of the then authorities on European integration sharply changed, and chaos began inside the Party of Regions.

This is written by former people's deputy Inna Bohoslovska.

According to her, as early as September 2013, the leadership of the Party of Regions and the majority of its deputies supported the course of rapprochement between Ukraine and the European Union. At a party meeting in Kyiv’s Star cinema, almost everyone present spoke in favor of signing the Association Agreement with the EU in Vilnius.

Bohoslovska claims that only Olena Bondarenko voted against at that time, and Nestor Shufrych abstained. The rest of the party elite, officials, mayors, and businessmen allegedly supported the European direction.

The situation, according to the former deputy, changed after Yanukovych’s trip to Putin in October 2013. Bohoslovska stated that during this meeting the Russian leader intimidated the then president of Ukraine.

After returning to Kyiv, Yanukovych, as Bohoslovska claims, for the first time in years of holding high state office suffered a hypertensive crisis. At the same time, disorganization began in the power team.

According to her, after this, representatives of the Party of Regions began to block bills necessary for further European integration. This occurred on the eve of the Vilnius summit, where Ukraine was to sign the Association Agreement with the EU.

In the autumn 2013, the Ukrainian authorities ultimately refused to sign the agreement. It was right before these events that Bohoslovska described changes in Yanukovych’s behavior and in the position of his political entourage.