The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, welcomed the arrest of the businessman, seeing “an example for all”.
Le Monde and AFP
The member and the Ukrainian businessman Viktor Medvedchouk, close to Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and recently arrested, could recover the freedom by being the subject of an exchange against the Ukrainians held in captivity in Russia. This is what the Ukrainian President, Volodyymr Zelensky said, Tuesday, April 12, in a video address published on Telegram :
“I propose to the Russian Federation to exchange this man against our boys and girls who are currently in captivity in Russia. That is why it is important that our law enforcement and our military also consider this Possibility. And that Medvedtchouk is an example for you. Even the old oligarch has not escaped. Not to mention the criminals of much smaller in the Russian hinterland. We will have everyone. “
The Ukrainian authorities were earlier in the day announced the arrest of this 67-year-old Ukrainian. On February 26, two days after the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian police had noticed his disappearance, on the occasion of a checkpoint.
Accompanying his message from a photo of Viktor Medvedtchouk, handcuffed and dressed in a Ukrainian army uniform, President Zelensky said on Telegram:
“A special operation was conducted thanks to the SBU. Bravo!”
Ukrainian secret services (SBUs) then confirmed this arrest, without giving detail. The head of the SBU, Ivan Bakanov, thanked his subordinates for successfully led “this exceptional and dangerous mission”.
already targeted by American sanctions
Viktor Medvedtchouk has been assigned at residence since May 2021, after being charged with “high treason” and “attempted looting of natural resources in Crimea”, the Ukrainian peninsula attached by Russia in 2014.
The Ukrainian businessman has already been targeted by US sanctions since 2014 for the lack of security, territorial integrity and democratic institutions of Ukraine. In February 2021, kyiv had frozen its financial assets and closed three Prorusses television channels, which formally belong to Taras Kozak, but are controlled, in reality, by the oligarch. The authorities had also ordered the nationalization of one of its most valuable property, a pipeline of 1,433 kilometers, which once belonged to the state.
The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitri Peskov, refused to comment on the Russian news agencies, claiming that “there is a lot of” fake “coming from Ukraine” and saying that “it must have first be checked “.
Viktor Medvedtchouk, twelfth Fortune of Ukraine in 2021, is one of the most powerful men in the country. The oligarch, at the head of a fortune estimated at $ 620 million (512 million euros), according to the Forbes magazine, is known for its links with President Vladimir Putin, who, according to the person concerned, godfather of one of his daughters.
Former lawyer who became a magnat of energy and agriculture in the 1990s, Vitkor Medvedtchouk met Vladimir Putin when he was the head of the Presidential Administration of Leonid Kuchma, between 2002 and 2005 . In the years 2010, he tried, with little success, to support a civilian civil organization for the integration of Ukraine into the customs union promoted by Russia.
In 2015, after the signing of Minsk’s peace agreements, he was appointed representative of Ukraine for humanitarian affairs, within the working groups established in Minsk. It is he who is responsible for the exchanges of prisoners between kyiv and the separatist groups. According to most observers, his appointment is the result of a request from Vladimir Putin.
Viktor Medvedtchouk is the leader of the Prorusse for life, which has become a party, which had thirty deputies in the Ukrainian Parliament before being banned in March, after the Russian attack.