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A pro-Putin Ukrainian fugitive who escaped while being held in domestic custody on charges of treason in Kyiv has been re-arrested by Ukraine’s security service SBU, Ukrainian officials said on Tuesday.
Viktor Medvedchuk, an oligarch and former leader of a Ukrainian pro-Russian party, escaped from house arrest after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested in his late night address on Tuesday that Medvedchuk could be traded for Ukrainian “boys and girls who are now in Russian captivity,” according to BBC News.
In a separate statement, Ukraine’s security service said: “You can be a pro-Russian politician and work for the aggressor state for years. You may have been hiding from justice lately. You can even wear a Ukrainian military uniform for camouflage. But will it help you avoid punishment? Not at all! Shackles await you, and the same goes for traitors to Ukraine like you.
In this picture provided by the Ukrainian president’s press office, oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, who is both a former leader of a pro-Russian opposition party and a close ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, sits in handcuffs after being arrested at a Special operation was detained, which was conducted by the country’s security service SBU, Tuesday, April 12, 2022, in Ukraine. (Press Office of the President of Ukraine via AP)
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Zelenskyy on Tuesday posted a photo of handcuffed Medvedchuk wearing a Ukrainian military uniform.
Fugitive oligarch and close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Viktor Medvedchuk is seen handcuffed after Ukraine’s Security Service conducted a special operation April 12, 2022 in Ukraine. (Photo by Security Service of Ukraine/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin is godfather to Medvedchuk’s youngest daughter. According to a Fox News journalist, Medvedchuk was among those considered by Russia to replace Zelenskyy if they had succeeded in removing the Ukrainian president from power Jennifer Griffin.
In this image from video provided by the Press Office of the President of Ukraine, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks from Kyiv, Ukraine on Tuesday April 12, 2022. (Press Office of the President of Ukraine via AP)
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Medvedchuk has denied the allegations against him, calling them “political repression”. He was arrested last year after years of being tolerated in Ukraine because, according to the BBC, he was considered important for relations with Moscow.