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| Ukraine Implicates Ousted President in Shooting of Protesters | Ukraine Implicates Ousted President in Shooting of Protesters |
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| KIEV, Ukraine — The Ukrainian authorities said on Thursday that former President Viktor F. Yanukovych had been involved in plans for elite police units to open fire on antigovernment protesters in February, killing more than 100 people in the days immediately before the downfall of Mr. Yanukovych’s government. | KIEV, Ukraine — The Ukrainian authorities said on Thursday that former President Viktor F. Yanukovych had been involved in plans for elite police units to open fire on antigovernment protesters in February, killing more than 100 people in the days immediately before the downfall of Mr. Yanukovych’s government. |
| The police have already arrested several members of one elite riot police unit responsible for the killings, said Arsen Avakov, the country’s interim interior minister, but some others under investigation have fled to Crimea, which was annexed by Russia last month. | The police have already arrested several members of one elite riot police unit responsible for the killings, said Arsen Avakov, the country’s interim interior minister, but some others under investigation have fled to Crimea, which was annexed by Russia last month. |
| The findings of the inquiry, which were presented by Mr. Avakov as well as by the country’s new general prosecutor and the head of the security services, are the first attempt by the government in Kiev to give a comprehensive answer to the shootings that caused the overwhelming majority of deaths that took place on the Ukrainian capital’s main square, the Maidan, in mid-February. | The findings of the inquiry, which were presented by Mr. Avakov as well as by the country’s new general prosecutor and the head of the security services, are the first attempt by the government in Kiev to give a comprehensive answer to the shootings that caused the overwhelming majority of deaths that took place on the Ukrainian capital’s main square, the Maidan, in mid-February. |
| “An enormous number of people were harmed in this meat grinder,” said Mr. Avakov. | “An enormous number of people were harmed in this meat grinder,” said Mr. Avakov. |
| Valentyn Nalivaichenko, the new head of the Ukrainian Security Service, the country’s successor to the Soviet-era K.G.B., also said that Russia had supplied the Ukrainian special services with training, explosives, weapons and equipment during the street protests, which lasted for several months before Mr. Yanukovych fled to Russia in February. He did not immediately provide evidence to support the charge. | Valentyn Nalivaichenko, the new head of the Ukrainian Security Service, the country’s successor to the Soviet-era K.G.B., also said that Russia had supplied the Ukrainian special services with training, explosives, weapons and equipment during the street protests, which lasted for several months before Mr. Yanukovych fled to Russia in February. He did not immediately provide evidence to support the charge. |
| Mr. Nalivaichenko said Mr. Yanukovich was actively and personally involved in suppressing the demonstrations. “Presented as a counterterrorist operation, the actual organization of the mass murder of people took place under the direct leadership of former president Yanukovych,” Mr. Nalivaichenko said. | |
| Russia’s security services, known as the F.S.B., said that it had not been involved in the Ukrainian crackdown, according to RIA Novosti, the Russian state news agency. “Let those statements remain on the conscience of the Ukrainian Security Services,” the security agency said, according to the news agency. | Russia’s security services, known as the F.S.B., said that it had not been involved in the Ukrainian crackdown, according to RIA Novosti, the Russian state news agency. “Let those statements remain on the conscience of the Ukrainian Security Services,” the security agency said, according to the news agency. |
| The Ukrainian authorities have charged Mr. Yanukovych with mass murder in connection with the deaths of demonstrators and declared him wanted as a fugitive on those charges. | The Ukrainian authorities have charged Mr. Yanukovych with mass murder in connection with the deaths of demonstrators and declared him wanted as a fugitive on those charges. |
| In an interview on Thursday with The Associated Press and the Russian state television channel NTV, Mr. Yanukovych said that he had “never given any kinds of order for any shooting.” | In an interview on Thursday with The Associated Press and the Russian state television channel NTV, Mr. Yanukovych said that he had “never given any kinds of order for any shooting.” |
| Yet the police authorities, which include the country’s new prosecutor, the security services head and Mr. Avakov, said that the order to open fire on protesters had been disseminated through the police chain of command, including by the former interior minister, Vitaly Zakharchenko. The officials did not give more information on how Mr. Yanukovych was involved, but again called for his arrest. | |
| Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, has suggested that the killings may have been carried out by Right Sector, an armed ultranationalist group that took part in the protests against Mr. Yanukovych. | |
| At a press conference with the Kazakh foreign minister on Thursday, Mr. Lavrov lashed out at both Ukraine and the West for “exaggerating the issue” of the presence of Russian military troops training near the Ukrainian border, which Western officials have warned may be a guise for mobilizing an invasion force. | |
| Mr. Lavrov also demanded more information about possible plans by NATO to strengthen the defenses of member countries in Eastern Europe NATO foreign ministers, meeting in Brussels earlier this week, ordered the alliance's military commanders to draw up such plans. |