Ukrainian authorities released this Monday, April 18, video of a relative of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was arrested last week, asking to be exchanged for soldiers and civilians from the besieged city of Mariupol.
“I would like to address Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with a request to exchange me on the Ukrainian side for the defenders of Mariupol and its residents,” Ukrainian MP and businessman Viktor Medvedchuk said in this short undated video.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested on April 12 in Moscow that Viktor Medvedchuk be exchanged for the Ukrainians in Russian captivity.
Asked about a possible exchange, the Kremlin dodged the question, stressing Viktor Medvedchuk was “not a citizen of Russia” and saying he didn’t know if he wanted Moscow to interfere in his case.
Godfather of a daughter of Vladimir Putin
Viktor Medvedchuk has been under house arrest since May 2021 after being charged with “treason” and “attempted looting of natural resources in Crimea,” the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.
On February 26, two days after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian police discovered his disappearance during an inspection visit.
Viktor Medvedchuk, 12th fortune in Ukraine in 2021 at $620 million according to Forbes magazine (€575 million today’s rate ed. ed.), is known for his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who according to the opinion the prospective godfather of is one of his daughters.