The State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) of Ukraine has completed a special investigation and submitted to the court the materials of the case accusing former president Viktor Yanukovych and former prime minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov of high treason during the signing of Kharkiv Accords," the SBI said.

"SBI officers have completed a special pretrial investigation against the former president and prime minister of Ukraine on charges of committing high treason and assisting Russia in carrying out subversive activities against Ukraine," the bureau said in a statement on its Telegram channel on Friday.

As established by SBI investigators, the former president of Ukraine in 2010 received instructions from the Russian leadership to extend the stay of the Russian Black Sea Fleet on the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol. According to the basic Agreements of 1997 between Ukraine and Russia, this period ended in 2017.

It is recalled that Ukraine previously confirmed its intentions not to extend the validity of these Agreements and prepared a bilateral Memorandum on the withdrawal of the Russian fleet. The Russian side ignored the official appeal.

"Due to the energy blackmail, the Russians decided to force the then Ukrainian leadership to extend the stay of the Russian fleet in Crimea. This subsequently led to the annexation of the peninsula," the bureau said.

According to the SBI, in April 2010, at the Russian state residence "Novo-Ogaryovo," the Ukrainian delegation led by the prime minister received the final text of the draft Agreement on extending the stay of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine.

"Then, at a closed meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the prime minister and the minister of foreign affairs assured those present about the need and importance of signing this Agreement, supposedly in the economic interests of the country. After all, receiving a discount on the cost of Russian gas is forced, given the state of the state's economy," the SBI said.

The SBI said in addition to violating the Constitution and a number of laws, the Agreement essentially provided for the deployment of a new military base on the territory of Ukraine and actually introduced new rules for extending the stay of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in our country.

"Hurrying to please Russia, Yanukovych in a matter of days introduced a bill on the ratification of the Agreement as urgent for extraordinary consideration by the Verkhovna Rada, and on April 27, 2010, the decision was made by deputies. As a result of the criminal actions of the then leadership of the country, there was an increase in personnel and military equipment of the Russian Armed Forces on the territory of Crimea and Sevastopol. These forces were used by the enemy to occupy the peninsula in 2014," the SBI said.

In addition, the bureau said the investigation documented the damage to the governemnt caused by the country's former leadership due to the signing of Kharkiv Accords amounting to more than UAH 1.0008 trillion 80 billion.