The arrest of a Ukrainian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin angers Moscow

The arrest in Ukraine of fugitive Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, the former leader of a pro-Russian opposition party and a close aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been greeted with enthusiasm in Kyiv and with irritation in Moscow.

Some analysts believe that Medvedchuk will become a valuable pawn in negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to end the devastating war that the Kremlin has unleashed on its neighbor, which used to belong to the former Soviet Union.

Medvedchuk was detained on Tuesday in a special operation carried out by the Ukrainian security service (SBU). Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has proposed that Russia could obtain Medvedchuk’s freedom by exchanging Ukrainians held captive by the Russians.

The 67-year-old oligarch escaped house arrest days before Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. He faces a sentence of between 15 years and life in prison on charges of treason and complicity with a terrorist organization for brokering the purchase of coal for the Russian-backed breakaway republic of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.

Medvedchuk has a close relationship with Putin, who is believed to be the godfather of his youngest daughter. His arrest sparked a heated exchange of recriminations between Moscow and Kyiv officials.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council and the country’s former president, posted threats to the Ukrainian authorities on the Telegram messaging app, calling them “weirdos” and warning them to “carefully look around and firmly close the doors at night.” ”.

Mykhailo Podolyak, Zelensky’s adviser, responded by calling Medvedev a “nobody,” calling his words “disgusting and, as always, silly.”

“ The friendly relations between Putin and Medvedchuk make him a valuable trophy for Kyiv, and in the Kremlin, they unleash fury and a dangerous desire for revenge,” Volodymyr Fesenko, an analyst at the Penta Center, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “Medvedchuk’s fate will undoubtedly become a negotiating issue and one of the points of covert agreements between Kyiv and Moscow.”

Zelensky has released a photo of Medvedchuk sitting handcuffed and wearing a camouflage uniform with a Ukrainian flag patch, appearing tired but visibly unharmed.

Medvedchuk’s wife, Oksana Marchenko, asked Zelensky that her husband be released and given guarantees that “his life is not in danger.”

“My husband is being persecuted for political reasons against the laws of Ukraine,” Marchenko said.

Medvechuk is director of the political council of Ukraine’s pro-Russia Opposition Platform – Pro-Life party, the largest opposition group in the Ukrainian parliament. He is one of its 44 lawmakers in the 450-seat Rada. The activity of the party has been suspended for the duration of the war by the order of Zelensky.