[24][25] The best-known former party members are former Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych;[26] both fled to Russia in February 2014 after Euromaidan.

[citation needed] At the congress Mykola Azarov, who at that time was chairman of the State Tax Administration of Ukraine, was elected the party leader but soon resigned in December 2001.

[33] In an interview with the newspaper Den (Ukrainian: День) on 6 March 2001, Azarov said that he agreed to become the chairman for a brief period "until the party nominated a leader who will claim the office of the President of Ukraine in 2004".

[citation needed] The party's stated platform included making Russian a second official language in Ukraine, moving towards a pro-Russian foreign policy, and increasing social spending.

[citation needed] The Party of Regions moved into opposition after Viktor Yanukovych, its chosen candidate, lost the 2004 presidential election.

[41] The Party of Regions claimed this was an act of political repression, while the authorities believed that Kolesnykov had links to organized crime and his arrest was a purely criminal matter.

[47] On 19 January 2007, Yevhen Kushnaryov, a high-ranking member of the Party of Regions, died in Izium as a result of an accidental gunshot wound received while hunting.

[citation needed] On 13 March 2009, Victor Yanukovych stated the Party of Regions was ready to unite into a coalition with its archrivals[49][50] the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (BYuT).

[51] The previous day, the deputy leader of the Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko faction, Andriy Portnov, said that the union of his political force with the Party of Regions was highly improbable, but that it could be possible after the next Ukrainian presidential elections.

[52] Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko stated on 17 March 2009 that her bloc was ready to join efforts with the Party of Regions to pass certain bills in the Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada).

"[53] On 30 March 2009, Victor Yanukovych stated he did not believe in the possibility of forming a coalition with the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc in the current parliament.

[55] In early June talks to build a national unity government to address the economic crisis collapsed, and Yulia Tymoshenko accused Yanukovych of betrayal, saying: "He unilaterally, without warning anyone, quit the negotiation process, making a loud political statement, killing the merger and the chances for Ukraine.

"[57] In September 2009 Mykola Azarov announced the creation of the Anti-Fascist Forum of Ukraine, the chairmen of which were Dmytro Shentsev (member of parliament for Kharkiv) and the head of the Luhansk Region State Administration, Valeriy Holenko.[58][59][relevant?]

[60] The party intended to create a new coalition in the Verkhovna Rada and form a new government if Yanukovych won the 2010 presidential elections.

[65][67][26] Seven extra deputies (four of whom were Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko (BYuT) members) joined the Party of Regions faction in October 2010.

[73] In Crimea, particularly in 2010–2014, the Party of Regions was nicknamed "Makedonians" because the Crimean Prime Ministers Vasyl Dzharty and Anatolii Mohyliov were associated with the "Makiivka-Donetsk clan.

[108] In June 2013, 148 people's deputies of Ukraine signed a letter to the Polish Sejm asking to recognize the Volhynian tragedy as a genocide.

[citation needed] From November 2013, protests against Yanukovych's rule evolved into the largest democratic mass movement in Europe since 1989,[109] known as Euromaidan[110] which led to the Revolution of Dignity.

[117] On 22 February 2014, the Ukrainian parliament voted to impeach the honorary chairman of the Party of Regions, Viktor Yanukovych, as President of Ukraine.

[131] On September 25, 2014, the Central Investigation Administration of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs opened a criminal case against those deputies, charging them with infringement on the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

[149] A number of city leaders in Russian-occupied territories were accused of collaboration and high treason for their cooperation with the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

[152] In Kupiansk, mayor Gennady Matsegora of the Opposition Platform — For Life party voluntarily surrendered the city to the Russian armed forces.

[153] Many former members of the Party of Regions on the ground were also appointed by Russian troops as heads of civil administrations in the occupied territories.

[159][160][independent source needed] The Party of Regions supports the cancellation of a number of benefits for deputies of the Ukrainian parliament.

[162] In November 2013 Party of Regions MP Oleh Tsariov demanded a criminal investigation into the activities of the United States Department of State-led TechCamp in Ukraine because he believed it was engaged in "preparations for inciting a civil war" because during training "instructors share their experience of Internet technologies, which are aimed at shaping public opinion and enhancing the protest potential and which were used to organize street protests in Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and Syria".

[needs update] On the one hand, President Viktor Yanukovych, who is a member of the party, has repeatedly underlined his pro-European stances.

[170][needs update] The party supports policies including affordable housing funded through state mortgages with a 3% annual percentage rate, social contracts with employers, financial aid for newborns, perinatal centers in each region, and the upgrading of maternity homes.

[citation needed] The party supports plans for at least 75 percent placement in higher-educational institutions, a minimum-wage student stipend, a minimum 20-percent annual raise in educator salaries, and universal Internet access.

The Party of Regions also has a rural focus, with proposed policies including the creation of 1,500 agricultural cooperatives, the construction of new crop storage sites, government-set prices for land and rent.

[citation needed][needs update] The Party of Regions' stated civil policy priorities include intellectual freedom, freedom of speech, equal opportunities for women and men in all spheres of life, and granting the Russian language the status of the second state language (while maintaining legislative support for Ukrainian).