International- Captured Putin ally Viktor Medvedchuk has asked the Russian president to trade him for safe passage for Ukrainians.
- "I want to appeal ... with a request that the Ukrainian side exchange me for the defenders of Mariupol," Medvedchuk asked in a video.
Captured Russian ally Viktor Medvedchuk pleaded with Russian President Vladimir Putin to trade him for safe passage for Ukrainian citizens.
In a video posted on Twitter by the Security Service of Ukraine, Medvedchuk asked the Presidents of
"I, Viktor Volodymyrovych Medvedchuk, want to appeal to President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy with a request that the Ukrainian side exchange me for the defenders of Mariupol and the residents who are there today and do not have the possibility of a safe exit through humanitarian corridors," he asked in the video.
—СБ України (@ServiceSsu) April 18, 2022
Medvedchuk, the leader of Ukraine's Opposition Platform — For Life party, was arrested Tuesday by Ukrainian forces, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced. He had been on house arrest while facing charges of treason until he escaped in late February.
Medvedchuk has close personal ties to Putin and was thought to be the Russian leader's top choice to replace Zelenskyy as a puppet ruler in Ukraine once Russia's invasion was complete.
Medvedchuk has spent the last three decades using his close relationship with Putin — who is godfather to Medvedchuk's youngest daughter — to become one of Ukraine's most powerful opposition politicians. He is also one of the richest.
Medvedchuk has told the Independent that it would be a "sin" for him not to use his close relationship with Putin in his position in Ukrainian politics.
Since his arrest, Medvedchuk's wife has demanded that Ukraine release her husband after the Kremlin refused to trade him for Ukrainian prisoners.
Ukrainian officials have captured many of Medvedchuk's assets since his arrest, including 23 houses, 32 apartments, 30 plots of land, 26 cars, and one yacht, The Washington Post reported.
Translations by Oleksandr Vynogradov.