Ukraine arrests pro-Russian businessman and politician Viktor Medvedchuk
The pro-Russian Ukrainian politician and businessman Viktor Medvedchuk has been arrested by the Ukrainian intelligence services (SBU). President Volodimir Zelensky announced his arrest in a photo showing the pro-Russian leader dressed in a Ukrainian army uniform, dishevelled and handcuffed.
"A special operation has been carried out thanks to the Security Service of Ukraine - well done," Zelensky wrote on social media. Separately, Ivan Bakanov, head of the SBU, said in a statement that "no traitor will go unpunished, and all will be held accountable under the laws of Ukraine".
Medvedchuk had been under house arrest since May on suspicion of high treason but escaped days after the Russian invasion began. The tycoon, whose fortune is estimated at $620 million, was accused last year of providing classified data on Ukrainian forces to Russia, having business dealings in the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula, working for Russia and having "strong ties" to Vladimir Putin. The Ukrainian politician is a very close figure to the Russian president. In fact, Putin is the godfather of his youngest daughter.
The Kremlin criticised Medvedchuk's arrest, calling it a "purge". "The decisions are clearly political and arbitrary and are aimed at clearing the political space of those forces that advocate a peaceful solution to the crisis in southeastern Ukraine, the Donbas, and good neighbourly relations with Russia," Putin said at the time.
Medvedchuk's political party, the Opposition Platform for Life, advocates rapprochement with Russia rather than rapprochement with the West. In this sense, the pro-Russian politician rejects Ukraine's accession to NATO and supports the autonomy of the separatist areas of the Donbas. Medvedchuk's political party came second in the 2019 elections, which were won by incumbent President Zelensky. Opposition Platform for Life won 13% of the vote and won 44 seats in the Verkhovna Rada.
Because of his pro-Russian ideology, as well as his friendship with Putin, the Ukrainian authorities imposed sanctions on Medvedchuk in February last year, before sentencing him to house arrest. Kiev froze the tycoon's assets on charges of "financing terrorism" and suspended broadcasting on three television channels owned by Medvedchuk for "promoting Russian propaganda". Earlier, in 2014, the US sanctioned the pro-Russian leader "for threatening the peace, security, stability, sovereignty, or territorial integrity of Ukraine and for undermining Ukraine's democratic institutions and processes".
Medvedchuk has been captured weeks after skipping house arrest. Among the charges he faces is high treason, which could cost him a long prison sentence, according to Ukrainian presidential spokesman Mikhail Podoliak, who said on Twitter that Medvedchuk's life "is guaranteed by a long prison sentence".
However, the pro-Russian politician could be spared this sentence if Moscow accepts the prisoner of war exchange proposed by Zelensky. "I propose to the Russian Federation to exchange this guy of yours for our boys and girls who are now in Russian captivity," he said in one of his speeches published on the presidency's website.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has called for "double verification" of the detention in the face of "a lot of false reports created by Kiev". "I want to urge everyone to treat all information that way: don't take it literally, don't believe what you see, try to double-check everything and at least look for an alternative point of view," Peskov remarked, Russian news agency TASS reports.
The arrest of the pro-Russian Medvedchuk comes weeks after President Zelensky banned the activity of 11 political parties linked to Moscow under martial law, imposed since the beginning of the Russian invasion. The Ukrainian leader also referred to "the large-scale war unleashed by Russia and the political ties that various political structures have with this state".
"The activities of those politicians aiming at division or collusion will not succeed, but will receive a harsh response," Zelensky added. Among the banned political parties is Medvedchuk's formation.