January 25th, 2013, Yanukovich signed a $10 billion 50-year production sharing agreement to develop shale gas deal with Royal Dutch Shell. This was labelled as the largest foreign investment in the former Soviet republic, and would have resulted in Europe becoming less dependent on Russian gas.
Just this fact alone, makes the "Yanukovich was a Russian puppet" narrative look stupid.
Unfortunately one year later USA backed a coup in Ukraine. As a result of the coup, Donetsk and Lugansk declared independence. And the post-coup interim government (hand picked by USA) started a war, which affected the territories where the massive gas fields are located.
Yanukovich's great achievement was annulled. No money for Ukraine. No alternative gas supply for Europe.
