Russia's main directorate on issues of migration of Russia's Interior Ministry has confirmed that Viktor Yanukovych is located in Russia on the basis of temporary refugee status, adding that Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) is aware of this fact, Yanukovych's former lawyer Vitaliy Serdiuk has said.

"Responding to our query dated July 4, 2016 we can inform you of the following: citizen of Ukraine Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych … has been granted temporary refugee status on the territory of the Russian Federation, as witnessed by the act granting him temporary refugee status on the territory of the Russian Federation, series VU No. 0107999, issued by Russia's Federal Migration Service in Rostov region," reads the statement, dated September 29, issued by the Russian Interior Ministry's office in response to the query by Yanukovych's lawyer received by Interfax-Ukraine.

Serdiuk said that Ukraine's PGO based the lack of progress in its investigation of the "Maidan case" against Yanukovych on the absence of proof of Yanukovych's whereabouts in Russia, saying these were grounds for refusing to question him with other high-ranking Ukrainian officials … making it impossible to send the "Maidan case" to court.

The lawyer said that on February 23, 2016, the PGO investigators were notified officially about questioning of Yanukovych in Rostov, Russia, where he was resident. The response of prosecutors, dated March 4, states information about Yanukovych's whereabouts is being checked, but there is no official confirmation from competent Russian authorities that he (Yanukovych) in located on Russian territory.

On August 30 the PGO investigator was given a notice about questioning President Petro Poroshenko, former Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk, Verkhovna Rada Speaker Andriy Parubiy, Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitchko and National Defense and Security Council Secretary Oleksandr Turchynov in the presence of Serdiuk and with the participation of Yanukovych. In the PGO's resolution from September 2 it is again noted that information about the whereabouts of Yanukovych is being checked and there is no official confirmation that he is in the Russian Federation.

"The PGO has now lost any final arguments for further delays in its investigation, refusals to question suspects and carry out other investigation activities with the participation of Viktor Yanukovych and sending the case to court," the lawyer said.

Serdiuk also appealed to the investigator from the PGO's special investigations department to the notice on adding a copy of the letter of the Main Directorate of the Russian Interior Ministry's office of migration to materials from the "Maidan case" and resuming the pretrial investigation, in order to send the case to court as quickly as possible.

In addition, the lawyer said that the letter refutes rumors circulated earlier about Yanukovych's decision to change citizenship.