Viktor Yanukovych, who has declared his legitimacy as Ukraine's president, said that during the flight from Kharkov to Lugansk he was threatened with deployment of fighters to intercept his helicopter, RIA Novosti reported on Feb. 28.
"I myself decided to go to Lugansk. We flew on two helicopters. The military controllers warned us if we do not change our route... they were warned that we were supposedly flying to Russia. They warned us that fighters would be deployed," he said.
Thus the pilots decided to land the helicopters in Donetsk, he added.
Translated by E.A.
Edited by C.N.