Medvedchuk had gone into hiding
Putin confidante arrested in Ukraine
April 12, 2022, 11:00 p.m
Viktor Medvedchuk is considered Putin’s most important man in Ukraine. There the pro-Russian politician and oligarch was under house arrest for months until he disappeared shortly after the start of the war. Now security forces succeed in arresting him.
According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian secret service SBU has arrested the well-known pro-Russian MP and businessman Viktor Medvedchuk. Selenskyj published a photo of the 67-year-old in handcuffs on Telegram and congratulated the SBU on his mission. The SBU chief of services, Ivan Bakanov, spoke of a “rapid and dangerous special operation on several levels” without giving details. Medvedchuk is considered a close confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The 67-year-old is accused, among other things, of having passed on Ukrainian military secrets to Moscow. He had been charged with high treason and attempted looting of state funds and placed under house arrest last year. Shortly after the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine on February 24, he went into hiding.
The very rich businessman counts the Russian head of state among his personal friends. According to Medvedchuk, Putin is the godfather of his youngest daughter. As an MP, he headed the main pro-Russian opposition group in Ukraine. He dismisses the allegations against him as politically motivated.
Putin reacted angrily to the authorities’ actions against Medvedchuk last year. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov did not want to comment on his alleged arrest. “There’s a lot of false information coming out of Ukraine right now,” he told Russian media. “That has to be checked first.”