He was seen in a convoy of three cars accompanied by, among others, one of his closest aides, Andriy Klyuev.
Yanukovych had reportedly arrived there from the city of Donetsk, with arms and cash.
Another report had him returning east, to the land from where he had sprung, the coal mining region of Donbas, with its strong pro-Russian sympathies, protected by armed supporters and sympathetic members of the Orthodox priesthood.
The country's security service, no longer loyal to Yanukovych, was said to be tracking telephone calls in the area.
These accounts are not from neutral sources. They had come from Arsen Avakov, the new Interior Minister, and Oleksandr Bryginets, both members of the Fatherland Party, whose leader, Yulia Tymoshenko, the deposed President's implacable adversary, has just been freed from prison, where she was serving a seven-year sentence after being convicted of the abuse of her office as Prime Minister.
But support for Yanukovych has been melting away in the capital even among his own political group, the Party of the Regions.
The former President was accused of being personally responsible for the order to open fire on protesters during the attempted storming of the opposition camp at the capital's Independence Square, the Maidan, last Friday.
There has also been deep anger at what was revealed at Mezhyhirya, his country estate in the suburbs of Kiev from where he disappeared. Thousands who had visited the 140ha estate have been angered by its opulence - a private zoo, yacht harbour, car and motorbike collections, a full-scale model galleon - as his people struggled with a falling standard of living brought about by an economic downturn which had accompanied political instability.
Avakov had stated on his Facebook page: "An official case for the mass murder of peaceful citizens has been opened. Yanukovych and other people responsible for this have been declared wanted."
At the Maidan, now covered more than ever with flowers and candles in the memory of more than 80 killed, the cry was for justice and retribution. "My grandson ... Mykhaylo, he is just 19 year old, is lying in hospital, shot in the stomach. How can I forgive that man? Tell me," demanded Sofija Yevtushenko. "He must be put on trial; answer to the people."
Soon afterwards, Baroness Ashton, the EU's foreign policy chief, arrived to lay her own floral bouquet.
The visit was supposedly to encourage dialogue between the two sides, but it came across as welcome international support for the victorious opposition.
Yanukovych continues to have support in the east and the south.
It remains unclear, however, whether the Kremlin will continue to support Yanukovych himself or, indeed, whether he has the appetite for attempting to return to power.
His only public appearance since leaving the capital saw Yanukovych call his opponents Nazis and insist he was still President and would never leave. But, he flew by helicopter to Donetsk and then attempted to leave with a number of officials on two private jets. They were grounded.
After a night of driving, the deposed President reached the Crimean Peninsula where, it is said, he learned that Parliament had voted to remove him from office.
- Independent
