With a post on Instagram the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the capture of Viktor Medvedchuk, oligarch Ukrainian friend of putin, which is godfather of his daughter. The tycoon has been an ally of the tsar for years, funding his political campaigns and supporting proRussian separatists in Donbass. He had been fleeing Kyiv, where he had been sentenced to house arrest, since February for treason.
MORE INFORMATION
ProRussian Ukrainian oligarch Medvedchuk is captured
Today he was handed over to the Ukrainian authorities thanks to “a special operation” (said Zelenskyy). The photo posted by the president shows him handcuffed, with shaggy hair and wearing a Ukrainian military uniform. Medvedchuk is also accused of conspiring against Zelenskyi to form a proRussian government.
Abramovich, Sushi arrives by private jet for £40,000: dinner delivered to Azerbaijan from London
Putin, expresident Medvedev, reveals his plan: “He wants to build an open Eurasia from Vladivostok to Lisbon”
Zelenskyy and the prisoner exchange
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has proposed that Russia extradite oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, believed to be close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, to Moscow in exchange for the release of Ukrainians captured by Russian forces. The Guardian reports on it. “I propose an exchange between this man of yours” and Ukrainian men and women detained by the Russians, Zelenskyy said in a message on Telegram. A few hours earlier, Kyiv had announced that Medvedchuk had been arrested during an operation by the Ukrainian secret service.
THE HISTORY
A fugitive from the early days of the invasion, after escaping house arrest and facing charges of treason for supporting separatist forces in the Donbass, he was seen as one of the possible candidates to lead a puppet government should Moscow succeed conquer Kyiv. As an entrepreneur active in many fields, including energy and media, he would have come to the point of unofficially looking after Putin’s interests in the country. News of his capture immediately rebounded to Moscow, where Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov hid behind a “no comment” and stated that he could not confirm any arrest at the moment, which could become very embarrassing for the Kremlin, itself for the possible strategic and military secrets guarded by Medvedchuk. His arrest comes as Kyiv confirms it has drawn up a list of 100 “traitors” to the fatherland. “The National Agency for Corruption Prevention and the NGO Honest Movement have registered 73 politicians, 13 law enforcement officials, 13 media and one judge.”
EMPLOYEES
The list includes data on suspected collaborators from 14 regions of Ukraine, while 637 cases have already been opened. Initiatives favored by the law passed by the parliament of Kyiv on March 3 last year, ten days after the start of the war, “which criminalizes cooperation with the Russian invader. The procedure for reporting the “traitors”, it is explained, has several phases. “Before an individual is added to the list, the Honest Movement verifies the name and actively works with law enforcement and public organizations to verify the information, then they are added and the list is available to view on the web.” A register published in 4 Categories is divided into: politicians, judges and lawyers, media and law enforcement agencies. So the NGO itself “continues to look for collaborators and encourages anyone with information to share.