Yanukovich Son Dies After Car Falls Through Ice

The youngest son of former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich has drowned after a van he was driving fell through ice into a Siberian lake.

An aide to Ukraine's Interior Minister said the ousted leader's younger son, who is also called Viktor, died on Sunday in Lake Baikal.

The vehicle he was driving plunged through ice and tilted over onto the driver's side.

The 33-year-old was unable to release his seatbelt in time to get out. Five passengers survived the accident and, according to the aide, "four of them didn't even get their feet wet".

The death has not been officially confirmed by authorities in Russia, where Mr Yanukovich senior and most of his family have lived since he was forced out of office in February 2014.

A similar account of the death has appeared on the Facebook page of Nestor Shufrych, a Ukrainian parliamentary deputy from the opposition bloc and a former supporter of Mr Yanukovich

Viktor Yanukovich junior was a noted racing car enthusiast who headed up the Ukrainian Automobile Association when his father was in power.

Both the Kremlin spokesman and Russian President Vladimir Putin's personal spokesman could not confirm the news of his death.

Local website Life News, quoting sources in Russian law enforcement, reports Mr Yanukovich junior's body has been flown by charter flight for burial on the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, territory annexed by the Kremlin last year.