Who commanded the operation to rescue the former President of Ukraine?

The Merchant newspaper reported on February 3 that Alexey Dyumin, appointed Governor of Tula province on February 2, was the commander of the operation to evacuate former President Viktor Yanukovych from Ukraine in February 2014.

Russian President Vladimir Putin assigned the task to Mr. Alexey Dyumin (left). (Photo: Getty Images)

Citing a source close to the Russian General Staff, the newspaper said that Mr. Dyumin outlined and carried out the operation to evacuate Mr. Yanukovych to Russia in the early morning of February 23, 2014.

The success of the operation was reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who highly appreciated Dyumin's work.

In 2014, Mr. Dyumin also commanded the Special Forces - a secret unit that participated in the operation to annex Crimea to Russia.

The role of this force was mentioned in the documentary "Crimea: The Road to the Motherland" by Andrey Kondrashov, broadcast on the occasion of the first anniversary of the annexation of the peninsula.

In the film, President Putin details the operation to evacuate Mr. Yanukovych from Ukraine.

The president said he personally assigned the task to the special forces unit to bring the ousted Ukrainian president back to Russia.

According to Mr. Putin, Russia has sent helicopters to join the search for Mr. Yanukovych, who is moving from Donetsk province to Crimea.

The Russian president said: "The fact that we saved his life and his family's life, I think that's a good thing."

According to a source from the Merchant newspaper in Crimea, until 2014, Mr. Dyumin's career was associated with the Federal Protection Service (FSO) - specializing in protecting the Russian President.

He considers himself someone "who can be trusted to deliver and get the job done."

In the FSO, Dyumin is a direct subordinate of the current Commander of the Interior Ministry Forces Viktor Zolotov.

On February 2, Russian President Putin decided to dismiss Mr. Vladimir Gruzdev and appoint Mr. Dyumin as acting Governor of Tula province.

At the meeting with Mr. Dyumin, President Putin expressed hope that the new Governor would raise the level of the province's famous defense industrial facilities.

According to VIETNAM+