Russia will be able to grant asylum to Viktor Yanukovych as long as he applies for it, said Vladimir Volokh, head of the public council at the Federal Migration Service.
“As regards the granting of asylum in any form, the first requirement
is there has to be a written application. There is definitely no such
application yet, so when there is, then we can give our appraisal,” he
told Interfax.
There is nothing that could stop asylum from being granted to Yanukovych, should he file such an application, Volokh said.
“But I do not see any problems there because a decision to grant
asylum in any form – refugee status, temporary asylum – has been fairly
well practiced in our country. And if we decided on Snowden, and our
(the public council’s) opinions were expressed, I do not see any problem
here,” he said.
