"The article includes a number of incorrectly represented facts of Viktor Yanukovych’s direct speech which is unacceptable for a journalist of your level," the open letter addressing Editor-in-chief of Der Spiegel Klaus Brinkbaumer read.
The ex-president's press service explained that Yanukovych had not stated that Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash and Ex-Head of Presidential Administration Serhiy Lyovochkin had planned to disperse protesters at Maidan on November 30, 2013.
According to the letter, referring to the video recording of the interview, "Yanukovych said that on the morning of November 30, 2013, he learned from the media that Serhiy Lyovochkin had resigned, and understood that he started playing his own game."
The press-service stressed this in no way implied that Lyovochkin and Firtash planned to disperse protesters.
"In this connection, we ask you to familiarize yourself in detail with the direct speech of Viktor Yanukovych and publish the denial of the incorrectly represented facts," the letter added.
Yanukovych’s press service offered Der Spiegel the video recording of the interview and expressed hope that the issue would be resolved within the shortest possible time.
On November 23, 2013, protests started on Kiev's Independence Square following the Ukrainian authorities’ decision to suspend the agreement on association with the European Union.
Maidan subsequently witnessed clashes between the police and protesters, which resulted in dozens of people killed by both sides. The responsibility for the deaths was put on Yanukovych and Berkut special assignment units. Yanukovych and Berkut staff denied their involvement in the deaths.
