Ukraine's 'museum of corruption'

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 2 May 2024

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In February 2014, Ukraine’s ousted president, Viktor Yanukovych fled the country.

His estate was abandoned by security guards, so for the first time ordinary people got to see inside Mezhyhirya, the extraordinarily extravagant home of the former president.

Denys Tarakhkotelyk was one of those early visitors, and went on to take charge of the estate. He tells Gill Kearsley his remarkable story, and how the house became known as a ‘museum of corruption’.

(Photo: People wander around President Viktor Yanukovych's Mezhyhirya estate. Credit: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Before you listen to this BBC podcast I'd like to introduce myself.
0:03.4	My name's Stevie Middleton and I'm a BBC commissioner for a load of sport
0:07.4	podcasts. I'm lucky to do that at the BBC because I get to work with
0:10.7	leading journalists, experienced pundits and the biggest
0:13.2	sports stars. Together we bring you untold stories and fascinating insights
0:17.5	straight from the player's mouths. But the best thing about doing this at the BBC is our unique access to the sporting world.
0:24.4	What that means is that we can bring you podcasts that create a real connection
0:28.7	to dedicated sports fans across the UK.
0:31.1	So if you like this podcast, head over to BBC Sounds where you'll find plenty more. You're listening to the Witness History Podcast from the BBC World Service with me Jill
0:46.6	Kursley. I'm taking you back to Ukraine in February 2014 when ordinary people got to see inside the extraordinary home of the former
0:56.1	president. Perhaps this today was the ultimate humiliation for Victor Yannukovic.
1:01.6	Protesters broke into his luxury residence outside Kiev and let the public in.
1:07.0	There were rumors that inside the lavish grounds and buildings
1:11.0	there were ostriches, a golden loaf of bread and even a golden toilet.
1:17.0	If you imagine James Bond films and where he goes to the casino in Manaca, it's something like that.
1:26.5	The building calls something like 200 million US dollars.
1:31.6	That's Denise Taurakatelli. In 2013 he was one of the people protesting about the
1:37.8	way Ukraine was being run. Then in February 2014...
1:42.0	By any measure this has been an extraordinary day.
1:45.0	There are vast crowds on the streets celebrating what many are calling a Ukrainian revolution.
1:51.0	The day began with the riot police simply having
1:54.4	vanished from the capital and then the president also leaving the capital.
	...

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