Ukraine’s Zelensky wants to swap pro-Putin tycoon Viktor Medvedchuk for captured citizens

‘I propose to the Russian Federation to exchange this guy of yours for our boys and our girls who are now in Russian captivity,’ he said in a video address
Medvedchuk, who says the Russian leader is godfather to his daughter, was caught after escaping house arrest

Ukraine

Agence France-Presse

Published: 10:54am, 13 Apr 2022

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky offered on Wednesday to swap pro-Kremlin tycoon Viktor Medvedchuk, who was apprehended by Kyiv after escaping house arrest, for Ukrainians captured by Russia.

Medvedchuk, 67, counts Russian President Vladimir Putin among his personal friends and says the Kremlin leader is godfather to his youngest daughter Darya.

“I propose to the Russian Federation to exchange this guy of yours for our boys and our girls who are now in Russian captivity,” Zelensky said in a video address posted on Telegram.

“And may Medvedchuk be an example for you. Even the former oligarch did not escape. What can we say about much simpler criminals from the Russian hinterland? We will get everyone.”

Ukrainian authorities announced on Tuesday they had captured a prominent pro-Kremlin tycoon who escaped from house arrest after Russia’s invasion.

Zelensky posted a picture online of a dishevelled-looking Medvedchuk with his hands in cuffs and dressed in a Ukrainian army uniform.

“A special operation was carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine. Well done!” Zelensky wrote on Telegram.

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Security agency chief Ivan Bakanov said agents had carried out a “lightning-fast and dangerous multilevel special operation to detain” the Russia-friendly lawmaker.

A Kremlin spokesman was cited by the Tass news agency as saying he had seen the photo and could not say whether it was genuine.

Hours earlier Putin used his first public comments on the conflict in more than a week to insist Russia will “rhythmically and calmly” continue its operation, saying he was confident his goals, including on security, would be achieved.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) with tycoon Viktor Medvedchuk in Saint Petersburg, Russia. File photo: Reuters

Zelensky mocked Putin in his address: “How could a plan that provides for the death of tens of thousands of their own soldiers in a little more than a month of war come about?”

Medvedchuk, one of the richest people in Ukraine, is a hugely controversial figure for his close ties to Moscow.

He was being held under house arrest since last year on treason charges over accusations of attempting to steal natural resources from Russia-annexed Crimea and of handing Ukrainian military secrets to Moscow.

Additional reporting by Reuters