Medvedchuk, a Ukrainian politician extremely close to Vladimir Putin (godfather to his children), escaped house arrest and had been in hiding since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Zelensky, who had him arrested originally, made the capture announcement on Telegram.
Source: CNBC
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday announced the apparent capture of Viktor Medvedchuk, a pro-Kremlin politician who was living in Ukraine.
Medvedchuk had been under house arrest on treason charges since last year, but allegedly escaped shortly after Russia launched its invasion in late February. His lawyers have denied wrongdoing.
“A special operation was carried out thanks to the SBU,” Zelenskyy wrote in Russian on his verified account on the social media platform Telegram, referencing Ukraine’s Security Service.
“Well done! Details later. Glory to Ukraine!” Zelenskyy said.
Above that caption, Zelenskyy posted a photo showing a disheveled Medvedchuk seated by a radiator with his hands clasped in handcuffs.
Medvedchuk, the leader of a pro-Russian opposition party in Ukraine and a staunch opponent of Kyiv’s appeals to join NATO, has extremely close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is godfather to Medvedchuk’s daughter.
Apparently, Ukraine has their own Special Operations, one of which is capturing traitors.
