Ousted president’s private 140- acre estate opens to the public as ‘ museum of corruption’
KYIV — Activists continued a fruitless search for the fugitive former president of Ukraine Sunday, but those sifting through his sumptuous private home were uncovering in staggering detail the lavish expenditure of the man ousted after a popular revolution.
Viktor Yanukovych hasn’t been seen since border guards in his hometown, Donetsk, said they had blocked his plane from taking off on a technicality on Saturday evening.
Hundreds of documents found floating in the Dnieper River near the Mezhihirye residence that was occupied on Saturday have, however, provided evidence of a life of bribery and vanity spending.
Yanukovych’s official annual salary as president was about $ 111,000 Cdn, but documents allegedly showed money transfers worth, in some cases, millions of dollars from unknown individuals to local bank accounts — transfers that are illegal in Ukraine.
Yanukovych’s 140- acre estate has become a public monument to greed, corruption and astoundingly poor taste. The estate boasts a five- storey mansion, a luxury- car collection, a greenhouse full of banana plants and a personal zoo including ostriches and peacocks.
The elaborate duck houses that dotted the ornamental lakes around the grounds are the least of the extravagances.
The star attraction, however, is a hideous galleon- shaped banqueting hall moored on the river where visitors discovered personalized table wear and a vast stock of expensive wines and spirits.
Presidential security officials and officers in the Self Defence units that took over the governmentheld district of Kyiv on the weekend suggest Yanukovych left the presidential administration building near Independence Square at some point between 6 p. m. and midnight on Friday.
Volodomyr Pravosodnov, the commander of one of the “hundreds” formed by activists, said the administration building was already empty by the time his men surrounded it.
“No cops, no president. Just the regular security guards, they let us in and we came to an agreement — we maintain the perimeter and don’t let anyone in or out, they look after the building.”
“Where’s he gone? Somewhere abroad. Definitely not in Ukraine,” he said. “He could have left at any time — you do realize there are tunnels under here, right?”
Regardless of how he left his office, there is some confusion about whether Yanukovych first returned to his sumptuous private residence at Mezhihirye, a short drive from the capital, or drove straight to the airport to fly to Kharkiv in the east of the country. From there he released a video statement calling the opposition “Nazis” and refusing to resign.
Activists who have maintained a presence near the residence for days said they counted 44 helicopter journeys in and out of the compound on Friday night, as the president and his staff apparently tried to shuttle people and valuables out of the complex.
After appearing on television from Kharkiv to maintain that he was still president but under siege from a coup led by fascists and thugs, Yanukovych again disappeared.
The Ukrainian border service said armed men in the president’s entourage offered inspectors money instead of the documents required to take off from Donetsk airport.
When the border guards declined, Yanukovych reportedly left the aircraft and drove off with a motorcade in an unknown direction.
Maj. Yaroslav Belousov, the deputy commander of security at the compound, who stayed to hand the keys over to the “hundreds” when they arrived, said the last helicopter had left two days previously.
Perimeter security guards said they weren’t told of the president’s decision to leave, and only realized they were alone in the early hours of the morning.
By the time activists from the “hundreds” arrived at 9 a. m., the compound was empty. The deputy head of security sent his men home and handed the compound over without a fight.
On Sunday, deputies passed an act of parliament reclaiming Yanukovych’s estate for the state. The president controversially privatized the property, which had been a government residence since Soviet times, in 2007.
While parliament mulls what to do with the estate — suggestions include an orphanage and a sanatorium for the terminally ill — the activists who occupied it have thrown the gates open to the public.
Entry to what has become known as “the museum of corruption” was free of charge between the hours of 9 a. m. and 4 p. m. on Sunday.
Traffic jams formed in the streets surrounding the palace as people flocked to the site .