The eyes of the international community have been on the building crisis in Ukraine for the past several weeks. Focus has been intensifying as Russian President Vladimir Putin has flaunted his disregard for warnings from leaders such as U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel by sending Russian forces into the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. People around the world have seen Putin's move as a power grab, endangering the lives of Ukrainian citizens to restore Russia's rule over the entire area. While this move has been condemned by foreign leaders, the recently ousted president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovich, is being investigated by Swiss officials for money laundering.
Yanukovich still maintains that he is the rightful leader of the country, despite being removed from power by the Ukrainian parliament in February 2014. Though he is no longer in power, this has not stopped Switzerland from launching its financial investigation. It is alleged that Yanukovich has laundered billions of dollars in public money, and the investigation includes his son Oleksander. The accounts of 20 Ukrainians — including the former president and his son — have been frozen while the investigation proceeds.
Along with all of the current crises that Ukraine is currently facing, the country is now in deep financial trouble. According to the newly installed prime minister, Arseny Yatseniuk, $70 billion has gone missing from public funds after Yanukovich was thrown out of office. The money was paid out of Ukraine's financial system into offshore bank accounts and has yet to be recovered.
"I want to report to you – the state treasury has been robbed and is empty. Thirty-seven billion dollars of credit received has disappeared in an unknown direction. The situation was so grave that there was no other alternative but to take extraordinarily unpopular measures," Yatseniuk told parliament this week.
