Posted on 04/12/2022 5:01:45 PM PDT by marcusmaximus
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky offered on Wednesday to swap pro-Kremlin oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, who was arrested by Kyiv after escaping house arrest, for Ukrainians captured by Russia.
'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 in the early hours of Wednesday.
'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 on Tuesday announced they had captured the prominent pro-Kremlin tycoon who escaped from house arrest after Russia's invasion.
Zelensky posted a picture online of a disheveled-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, announcing Medvedchuk's capture.
Security agency chief Ivan Bakanov said agents had carried out a 'lightning-fast and dangerous multi-level special operation to detain' the Russia-friendly lawmaker and leader of the 'Opposition Platform - For Life' party.
Medvedchuk, one of the richest people in Ukraine, is a hugely controversial figure for his close ties to Moscow. The 67-year-old business tycoon counts Russian President Vladimir Putin among his personal friends and says the Kremlin leader is godfather to his youngest daughter Darya.
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Z knows that Putin would have Medvedchuk tortured and killed if sent back to Russia after Medvechuk promised Putin that Kiev would fall in 3 days.
A helicopter ride over the Kremlin?
February flashback:
If Putin Picks Puppet Ukraine Leader, Viktor Medvedchuk is Odds-on Favorite
Medvedchuk, a man so close to Putin that he chose the Russian president to be godfather to his daughter, has long been a supporter of pro-Russian separatist forces in eastern Ukraine.
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