Kyiv’s Secret Service Nabs Medvedchuk, Ukrainian Oligarch Close to Putin

Medvedchuk was the former leader of the pro-Russian party Opposition Platform – For Life. He was being held under house arrest before the war began and disappeared shortly after hostilities broke out.

President Putin and Ukrainian tycoon Viktor Medvedchuk, left, in 2019. Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, file

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian officials say fugitive Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, who is both the former leader of a pro-Russian opposition party and a close associate of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, has been detained in a special operation carried out by the country’s SBU secret service.

The head of Ukraine’s national security agency, Ivan Bakanov, said on the agency’s Telegram channel that Mr. Medvedchuk had been detained. The statement came shortly after President Zelensky posted on social media a photo of Mr. Medvedchuk sitting in handcuffs and wearing a camouflage uniform with a Ukrainian flag patch.

Mr. Medvedchuk was the former leader of the pro-Russian party Opposition Platform – For Life. He was being held under house arrest before the war began and disappeared shortly after hostilities broke out.

Mr. Putin is the godfather to Mr. Medvedchuk’s youngest daughter.


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