Viktor Yanukovych Quotes

President of Ukraine from 2010 to 2014

Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych (Ukrainian: Ві́ктор Фе́дорович Януко́вич, Russian: Виктор Фёдорович Янукович; born 9 July 1950) is a Ukrainian politician who served as the fourth President of Ukraine from 2010 until he was removed from office in the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution. From 2006 to 2007 he was the prime minister of Ukraine; he also served in this post from November 2002 to January 2005, with a short interruption in December 2004. After rejecting the Ukrainian-European Association Agreement, Yanukovych was ousted from office in the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution. He currently lives in exile in Russia. On 18 June 2015, Yanukovych was officially deprived of the title of President of Ukraine by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. On 24 January 2019, he was sentenced in absentia to thirteen years' imprisonment for high treason by a Ukrainian court, which was affirmed on appeals that went all the way to the Supreme Court of Ukraine. Yanukovych was known for his numerous gaffes, which often relate to his poor knowledge of Ukrainian, malapropisms, Freudian slips, geography mistakes, or general errors of speech. Earlier speeches could sometimes include aggressive rhetoric, while some examples (not shown due to their intranslateability) have sparked controversy due to the employment of criminal jargon.

From: Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Native Name: Віктор Федорович Янукович

Alternative Names: Victor Fedorovych Yanukovych • Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych

From Wikidata (CC0)

In response to the opposition's calls to fire some of his ministers I've recalled, you know, the film called The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed. Have you heard, how was he...? How was he called? Vysotsky!.. (prompted) Zheglov! Yeah. As he said: "You'll only get a bagel of a bublik, not Sharapov..." Or how did it go? "Hole of a bublik"! That's right. We understand these are only dirty political games.

You know, Odessa is a genuine paradise for talents. Dozens of famous, popular and simply wondeful people were able to develop their talents in the city by the blue-blue sea. I would want to say a few words about them right now - for example, Anna Akhmetova, a poet... Yanukovych meant Anna Akhmatova; Rinat Akhmetov is an oligarch who was then a member of Yanukovych's party

I am sure... I don't remember who said that "beauty would always win"? Who said these words? (Yanukovych misquoted Dostoyevsky's Idiot; the original was: "beauty will save the world")

I am an industrialist; for 20 years I was working as a leader of various companies. And more than ten years have passed since I became a bureaucrat and, I'd like to say, I, uh, (from the crowd: have got to their swamp?) no, no, I'm in deep shit. [...] This is why I can't stand lies.

But, as they say, whether [you take] a bull or a billie, you have no milk; but a bull is still a bull - it's strength after all.

(On live TV) I will very briefly say to the residents of... Chernihiv... (prompted) Kirovohrad region... that this Sunday there will be a festival of machine assemblyers... or will it be on Sunday?

(Speaking of the failed talks to purchase gas in Russia, which he said was Ukraine's fault) The government has decided to up and throw us into such a conflict without understanding the consequences. Who is going to bear responsibility for that?

I would like you to remember this: the moment I saw the Constitution, of an unknown authorship, I immediately said: "This is going to violate the rights of the people in Ukraine, the infringement of the rights of the people..."

The people who've spent the New Year's Eve without electricity or heat, they couldn't have called anyone: not the Cabinet of Ministers, nor the Secretariat of the President, nor their municipal utility; the bureaucrats were hanging out and drinking alcohol.

Veteran: What is the reason you've declared that Russian would become an official language in Ukraine? The native nation here is the Ukrainians. Language, in its turn, is the principal characteristic of a nation. If the language disappears - so does the nation... I wouldn't want the Ukrainian language to disappear!

(Speaking of the Orange Revolution) What is happening in our country is a slow-motion coup d'état.

I don't believe the exit polls. This is some new modern technology that will be rolled out in Ukraine for the first time. And we don't know yet how to manipulate it.

(About his opponents) I believe that there are many more strong and healthy people than these assholes who are constantly troubling our lives!

And today I am summoning for talks, just like we did during our [electoral campaign - note] debate, that miscreant Leopold the Cat - Yushchenko. (in fact, Leopold was the protagonist of that cartoon; the mice were the mischiefs)

And another lie from the opposition - there is no revolution underway. And in the current conditions, it is not possible. During a revolution, a majority of citizens wants a change to the government structure. In fact, the majority of the Ukrainian people wants stability and improvement of their quality of life. It is not a revolution, it is political technology [abetted] by the uniformed special services, which is essentially being openly admitted by the organisers of the street protests.