FILE PHOTO: Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (R) attends a meeting with Ukrainian opposition platform – For Life Party leader Viktor Medvedchuk July 18, 2019 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Mikhail Klimentyev | Sputnik | Reuters
WASHINGTON — Authorities in Ukraine announced on Thursday that they have seized more than 150 assets belonging to Viktor Medvedchuk, the former media mogul and politician charged with treason for allegedly conspiring with the Kremlin to control the to overthrow the elected government of Ukraine.
These included 26 cars, 32 apartments, 23 houses, 30 plots of land, 17 parking spaces and a yacht, according to a statement from the Ukrainian security service.
Authorities said they also identified and seized equity interests in 25 companies owned by either Medvedchuk or his wife Oksana Marchenko.
Medvedchuk was detained this week by Ukrainian law enforcement after more than a month as a fugitive, after fleeing house arrest in the chaos following Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine.
The news of Medvedchuk’s arrest, who is said to be Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest Ukrainian friend, was greeted with cheers in Ukraine, which is fighting back a brutal Russian attack.
On Thursday, Ukraine’s top police officer released details of the mission to recapture Medvedchuk for the first time.
He said Russian agents planned to smuggle Medvedchuk by boat from Ukrainian territory to the Russian-held region of the country and from there to Moscow.
When Medvedchuk was arrested, the 67-year-old was wearing a Ukrainian army uniform and was accompanied by what appeared to be real Ukrainian police officers.
The photo of Medvedchuk in custody, released this week by Ukrainian authorities, gives no indication of his vast fortune, which Forbes Ukraine put at just over $620 million in 2021.
But the asset seizures tell a different story and paint a clear picture of the lavish lifestyle of one of Ukraine’s wealthiest oligarchs.
Medvedchuk owned several palatial homes across Ukraine. At his home outside of Kyiv is a real Pullman train car with a gold interior, parked on a fake platform.
Earlier this year, a judge in Ukraine ordered three apartments, two villas and a yacht, all owned by Marchenko, to be confiscated.
The 300-foot Royal Romance is valued at about $200 million and was docked in Croatia when she was repossessed in mid-March.
Ukrainian authorities did not provide any information on the second confiscated yacht on Thursday.