Second Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma (1994-2005) has arrived in Moscow to attend events to mark the 50th anniversary of the first manned flight in space, the spokesperson for Kuchma's Ukraina Foundation, Mykhailo Maly, has told Interfax-Ukraine.
Kuchma’s lawyer Viktor Petrunenko said live on Channel 5 on April 11 that his client would return to Ukraine. He said that Kuchma would not seek political asylum in Russia.
As reported, the organizing committee for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s flight into space invited Kuchma to visit Moscow to attend the festivities.
On April 11, Kuchma’s lawyers received official permission from the investigator of the Prosecutor General’s Office for the visit to the Russian capital.
Kuchma said after another round of questioning at the Prosecutor General’s Office on Monday that the investigator had not allowed him to go to Moscow for two days, but summoned him for more questioning on April 12. Later it became known that the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine would let Kuchma visit Moscow.
Kuchma is charged with the abuse of power and official authority, which subsequently led to the murder of journalist Georgy Gongadze in 2000.
