20 years since the “assassination attempt” on Yanukovych: how it happened
Kyiv • UNN
On September 24, 2004, student Dmytro Romaniuk threw an egg at then-Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. The incident became a legendary “assassination attempt” and a source of jokes during the presidential campaign.
Exactly 20 years ago in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine, there was an "attempted assassination" of the then Prime Minister of Ukraine and presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych - a student of the Precarpathian University, Dmytro Romaniuk, threw an egg at Yanukovych. UNN decided to recall the legendary "attempt".
Details
It was on September 24, 2004, that the then Prime Minister of Ukraine and presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych arrived by bus at Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University in Ivano-Frankivsk, where he was met in front of the university by a group of students shouting "Yushchenko, Yushchenko.
Getting off the bus, 1st year student Dmytro Romaniuk threw an egg at Yanukovych, who fell down like an actor, as if he had been shot by a sniper. The incident was widely shared online and became a source of jokes throughout the presidential campaign.
It was also initially stated that there had been a serious assassination attempt on Yanukovych, and he was allegedly diagnosed with a "head injury" in the hospital as a result of being hit with a "heavy blunt object.
A criminal investigation was even opened against Romanyuk, but as he himself stated, if Yanukovych had won instead of Yushchenko, he would most likely have had to serve a considerable term in prison.
After 10 years, Romaniuk became a candidate of economic sciences, and in 2019 he became deputy head of the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional State Administration, where he worked until 2020.
In 2024, Romaniuk became chairman of the board of the Ivano-Frankivsk Business Association.
Everyone knows what happened to Yanukovych. During the Revolution of Dignity in 2014, the then-president fled to Russia, where he has remained ever since. In 2022, Yanukovych called on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to "stop the bloodshed" at all costs.
Addendum
In 2023, the State Bureau of Investigation completed its investigation into the biggest Maidan case. Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and the entire power bloc of the time will be tried for the shooting of the Heavenly Hundred.
Prosecutors of the Prosecutor General's Office have sent to court an indictment against the former President of Ukraine and 9 former high-ranking officials who organized a number of grave and especially grave crimes against protesters in the center of the capital on February 18-20, 2014.
