Russia unleashes a war against the Ukrainian people on the 23rd year of the restoration of independence of Ukraine, in a period of difficult struggle for democracy. 

In early December 2013, in a telephone conversation with the UN Secretary-General, the President of Ukraine promised to start negotiations with the opposition to reduce tensions in Ukraine. However, at the end of February 2014, when Yanukovych and most of his associates were in Russia and the Russian armed aggression in Crimea became apparent, the UN Security Council initiated an urgent meeting. The position of Russia at this closed session on February 28, 2014, looks extremely unprepared. 

On March 1, 2014, at the 7124th open meeting of the UN Security Council, the Permanent Representative of Ukraine for the first time publicly assessed the actions Russia as an act of aggression against Ukraine. Instead, the representative of the Russian Federation justified his actions by claiming that a coup d'état had taken place in Ukraine and that Russian intervention was carried out to protect Russian citizens and the Russian-speaking population of Crimea. He refers to the «appeal of the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea» under the leadership of Sergei Aksyonov to the Russian President «to promote and ensure peace and tranquility» in Crimea dated March 01, 2014. This position is sharply criticized by those present, including for the fact that Aksyonov is not the person authorized to invite the armed forces of a foreign state.

This document was allegedly referred to before, in Russia, when on March 1, 2014, at an extraordinary meeting of the Federation Council, senators were urgently called to consider only one issue: permission for the Russian president to use Russian armed forces on the territory of Ukraine. This request was allegedly made by the «legitimate president of Ukraine» at approximately 5:30 p.m. This additionally contributed to the positive decision of the senators, and was also intended to demoralize Ukrainians.

For a long time afterward, the Russians will use the document signed by Viktor Yanukovych to justify their aggression to the international community. Nevertheless, UN members are steadfast in their support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine. French Ambassador Gerard Arnault, when asked by journalists whether Vitaliy Churkin was showing a fake document, replied:

Президенту України Віктору Януковичу в 2014-му було 64 роки, російському президенту Володимиру Путіну майже стільки ж – 62. Обоє будували свій кар’єрний шлях ще у комуністичній партії, в Союзі Радянських Соціалістичних Республік, якого з кінця 20 ст. не існувало. У дні ж їхньої молодості не було інституту президентства та конкурентних виборів, влада зосереджувалась довкола генеральних секретарів ЦК КПРС. 

За владу в Україні Януковичу довелося поборотися. Централізовану вертикаль він спершу вибудовував у рідному регіоні, в Донецькій обласній державній адміністрації. Коли на початку 2000-х країною шириться невдоволення чинним президентом, члени донецької фінансово-промислової групи навпаки підтримали Леоніда Кучму. Відтак з 2002-го Янукович став прем’єр-міністром України та вже у цьому провладному статусі вперше брав участь у змаганнях за президентський пост. 

У ході кампанії 2004-го масштабно залучали адміністративний ресурс, фальсифікували результати, переслідували громадських активістів, перешкоджали незалежним медіа, отруїли головного опозиціонера, розпалювали міжрегіональну ворожнечу, сепаратистські й антизахідні настрої. Тоді Януковича навіть встигли привітати з перемогою президенти Росії, Білорусі, Казахстану, Вірменії. Однак рішення Центральної виборчої комісії вдалося оскаржити. Цьому сприяли кількамісячні мирні протести громадян, принципова стійкість міжнародних спостерігачів, зрештою погодження у Верховній Раді політичного компромісу про перетворення України з президентсько-парламентської на парламентсько-президентську республіку. 

On the night of February 19, 2014, negotiations between opposition leaders and Yanukovych continue. The president demands that the tent city be closed. He talks to Putin by phone.

On the main square of the capital, the confrontation becomes positional. Both security forces and protesters block the roads to prevent the enemy forces from gathering in Kyiv. Several more participants in the events are killed. 

An anti-terrorist operation is declared. The Security Service of Ukraine, headed by Oleksandr Yakymenko, takes over the coordination of law enforcement agencies. They plan to involve the army. In this case, they count on the help of Defense Minister Pavel Lebedev, who used to be a Party of Regions MP from the Sevastopol majoritarian district before his appointment, as well as on the newly appointed Chief of the General Staff Yuriy Ilyin, who previously headed the national Naval Forces in Crimea. 

At the same time that day, surveillance cameras recorded the beginning of the removal of belongings from the residence of Yanukovych in Mezhyhirya. The evacuation of property lasted for several days until February 22, 2014. 

More and more activists arrive in the center of the capital, and they go on the offensive. The security forces begin to retreat, and the internal troops surrender to the Maidan self-defense. But on Instytutska Street, snipers open fire on the advancing Euromaidan protesters. Within an hour and a half, 45 protesters are killed – an unprecedented tragedy for the entire Euromaidan period.  

The killings do not stop the Maidan, but they do split the ranks of the Party of Regions. The pro-governmental officials began to flee, resign, and issue statements condemning the actions of the security forces. In the afternoon, MPs gathere for a meeting and after 10:00  p.m. adopt a resolution «Condemning the use of violence that led to the deaths of people». Law enforcement officers are also instructed to immediately investigate all facts that threaten the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

Foreign Ministers Frank-Walter Steinmeier (Germany), Radoslaw Sikorski (Poland), and Eric Fournier, head of the Continental Europe Department of the French Foreign Ministry, try to negotiate with both opposition leaders and the Presidential Administration. Moscow, on the other hand, demands decisiveness from the Ukrainian authorities. Some politicians from eastern Ukraine and Crimea make anti-governmental and pro-Russian statements, some of them are in Moscow.

On the night of February 21, 2014, and into the morning, complex and somewhat delayed negotiations continue at the Presidential Administration with the participation of Yanukovych, his inner circle, three opposition leaders, and international mediators, including the Russian Human Rights Commissioner Vladimir Lukin. A draft agreement is concluded. The Speaker of the Parliament signs the previously voted resolution to wind down the anti-terrorist operation.

Around the same time, Putin convenes an operational meeting with the permanent members of the Russian Security Council in Moscow. The «situation in Ukraine» is discussed by Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev, the chairmen of both houses of parliament, Valentina Matvienko and Sergei Naryshkin, the head of the presidential administration, Sergei Ivanov, the secretary of the Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, and his deputy, Rashid Nurgaliyev, the heads of the Foreign Ministry (Sergei Lavrov), the Ministry of Interior (Vladimir Kolokoltsev), the Defense Ministry (Sergei Shoigu), and the Foreign Intelligence Service (Mikhail Fradkov), as well as the permanent member of the Security Council Boris Gryzlov. 

At 4:00 p.m., all negotiators, except for the Russian, sign the previously prepared «Agreement on the Settlement of the Crisis» at the Presidential Administration. Immediately afterward, the parliament votes on a draft law to restore certain provisions of the 2004 version of the Constitution of Ukraine and on a number of other decisions, including preventing the persecution of activists, dismissing the Minister of Internal Affairs, and on amendments to release political prisoners. Yanukovych does not sign the laws passed by the parliament, but instead orders his bodyguards to prepare for a departure to Kharkiv.

In the evening, the security forces begin to leave the governmental quarter and go to their permanent locations. They are disappointed with the decision of the government to compromise with the «enemy» and now reasonably fear that the charges of excessive violence may be pressed against them. 

People in the center of the capital say goodbye to the deceased activists and demand the immediate resignation of the president. The Russian military intensifies its activity in Crimea.

On the night of February 23, 2014, Yanukovych in a motorcade of two Volkswagen Transporter minibuses moves southwest through the Azov steppes toward Crimea. As he approaches Melitopol, his bodyguards report that their advance party is ambushed. Putin would later claim that it was Russian special services that discovered the ambush with heavy machine guns, and then sent the VIP motorcade to the Azov Sea coast. An hour and a half later, a Russian helicopter group with special forces on board evacuates Yanukovych to Russia. This dramatic incident in the Azov Sea region was followed by new details at each subsequent press conference. Neither the fugitives nor the aggressor state would provide any clear version of events, let alone evidence.

The Mi-8 lands at 3:51 a.m. at the airfield in the city of Yeysk in the Krasnodar Krai of the Russian Federation. Passengers are met by Russian military personnel. The presidential bodyguards rest near the runway. In the morning, they board an An-26 military transport plane, where Yanukovych and his inner circle already stay. At the airport of the Russian city of Anapa, the fugitives are transferred to another An-26, which takes them to the already unsettled Crimea at around 1:00 p.m

In fact, the Ukrainian parliament is slightly ahead of Putin's special services, because around 12:30 p.m, while Yanukovych is still in Anapa, Russia, the MPs officially appoint speaker Turchynov as acting president of Ukraine. 

On February 22, 2014, in the afternoon, fighters of the Berkut special forces and internal troops sent to Kyiv to suppress Euromaidan begin to return to Crimea. Here they hope to escape persecution for crimes committed in the capital. The local authorities organize a reception for the security forces and greet them as heroes. Soon the former law enforcement officers would become rebels, blocking the entrances to Crimea during the Russian aggression. 

The next day, in Sevastopol, at a «rally of people's will against fascism», the so-called «people's mayor» Aleksei Chaly was elected. The local public openly criticizes not only the new government in Kyiv, but also the team of Yanukovych for failing to resist the Maidan. 

Yanukovych is returned to Ukraine, to the Russian Black Sea Fleet airbase in the village of Hvardiyske on the afternoon of February 23, 2014. On Crimean soil, he is again met by the Russian military. The motorcade goes to Yalta. Later testimony of the guards revealed that the fugitives stayed at the «Yalta» sanatorium of the Russian Ministry of Defense. Yanukovych plans to move to the state-owned «Glicinija» resort in Livadia, but is denied again, the facility is allegedly closed for the winter. 

For Yanukovych, Yalta once again became a place to test his own strength. Among the loyal security officials were Minister of Interior Vitaliy Zakharchenko, SBU chief Oleksandr Yakymenko, Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka, and Presidential Administration chief Andriy Klyuyev. Yanukovych also has special hopes for the law enforcement officers who have just arrived from Kyiv, but that fade in the light of the street rhetoric of the local protesters. In Yalta, Yanukovych holds talks with some representatives of the Crimean authorities, but many of them refuse to meet, such as the Prime Minister of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Anatoliy Mohylyov and the heads of the Crimean and Sevastopol departments of the Ministry of Interior.