Ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has died tonight, Ukrainian media report citing Facebook oppositionist Mikhail Lebed.
According to him, he received the information about the death of the ousted Ukrainian leader from a friend of his, who works at the heart center in the city of Rostov, Russia.
"Yanykovych was brought there at around 11 PM on March 3 after suffering a heart attack, and an hour later he died," Lebed said.
There is no official confirmation to this news. Many Facebook users are assured that the message from Lebed was nothing but a hoax.
It was reported tonight that Yanukovych had sent a written request to Russian President Vladimir Putin to use Russian armed forces to protect the population of Ukraine. This was reported by the Russian envoy to the UN Security Council, Vitaly Churkin. He demonstrated a photocopy of the original letter to members of the UN Security Council.
The Cardiological Center of the Rostov Regional Hospital denied the information about the death of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. They also said that the Ukrainian president had not been admitted to the center.
The information about the death of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych appeared on the Russian Internet, but was not confirmed. Both Ukrainian and Russian news agencies may provide contradictory and unconfirmed reports against the background of the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.