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Since becoming President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky has done his best to avoid provoking Moscow. However, the Kremlin’s actions angered the Kremlin: Kiev lashed out at the pro-Russian Ukrainian oligarch and politician Viktor Medvedchuk (Viktor Medvedchuk), who made Russian President Vladimir Putin ( Vladimir Putin) became the godfather of his daughter.
In February, the Ukrainian government placed Medvedchuk in Ukraine Sanctions list, Froze his assets and shut down three TV channels that allegedly spread misinformation.
Zelensky’s actions against the businessman expressed his helplessness towards a businessman A deadlocked peace process The reason for the failure to end the war in eastern Ukraine may be Russia Sabre Analysts said, as well as the large-scale mobilization of troops at the Ukrainian border last month.
Ukrainian prosecutors showed courage last week to seek Medvedchuk’s arrest Charged with treason. On Friday, Putin fought back saying that Moscow will “react quickly and appropriately, keeping in mind all threats to us”. He added that Ukraine “is slowly but surely becoming the anti-Russian, some anti-Russian”.
Zelensky was pressured by the Biden administration to suppress Ukrainian oligarchs and strengthen the fight against corruption.
Medvedchuk, 66, was a former head of the President’s Office in the early 2000s. Before setting foot in the banking and energy industries, he made his fortune as a lawyer. Zelensky’s predecessors used him as a back road to Moscow and played a role in the Minsk talks, which aimed to end the war between Ukraine and Russian-backed forces in the Donbass region.
But recently, he has been regarded as the voice of the Kremlin by the pro-Western leadership in Ukraine. He has communicated his views through a television channel owned by his associates and his opposition leadership, “Life” (Ukraine’s largest pro-Russian opposition party) View. , Opposed to the country’s future integration into NATO and the European Union.
An adviser to Zelensky said: “Medvechuk is not only an oligarch, but also the main influence of the Ukrainian Kremlin for decades.” He said that repression is the suppression of the oligarch’s political and political occupation of the country. The pressing part of the effort. economic.
The consultant added: “This makes him very dangerous to Ukraine’s national security.”
The businessman did not immediately comment on the matter.
Medvedchuk responded to Moscow’s request for an end to the Donbas conflict, urging Ukraine to hold direct dialogue with the leaders of the separated regions supported by Russia and grant them autonomy, which may make them aware of the future. The integration of the EU and NATO has a veto power.
“He is Putin’s assets in Ukraine,” said Orysia Lutsevych, head of the Ukrainian Forum at Chatham House in London. He “is like a magnet for all pro-Russian groups and pro-Russian sentiments.”
According to a report by the Kiev media watchdog Dinat Media, Natalia Ligachova stated that before the release, the narrative broadcast by the television station under his control was “almost the same as the Russian national television channel.”
Putin is hailed as a hero. Russia is a friendly country and we need to establish friendly relations with it. Our enemy is the West, and the Ukrainians are fascists. . . After all, this is not a real country. ”
Ligacova said that through the title of the speaker or the long monologue of Medvechuk himself, these channels spread the view: “Russia is not attacking Ukraine, Ukraine is attacking itself, and it should be blamed. This is civil war”.
Medvedchuk has repeatedly denied owning Channel 112, NewsOne and Zik. They belong to an associate of Medvedchuk and pro-Russian Congressman Taras Kozak, who was also charged with treason last week. Ukrainian authorities said he was in Russia. Medvechuk said that Kozak is in Belarus.
Medvedchuk ordered house arrest in court on Thursday. He has been sanctioned by the United States for undermining Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity since 2014. He denied the fault and described the allegations as “politically motivated allegations.”
Zelensky’s government and independent experts point out that there is evidence that the Kremlin actually funded Medvechuk and his associates’ profitable energy business interests in Russia to fund their broadcasting and political activities.
The case is still under investigation, but Ukraine’s Attorney General and head of national security said that Medvechuk and Kozak are currently charged with treason in connection with two separate incidents. Allegedly, these operations included passing information about secret military units to Russia and working with Russian officials to conduct maritime hydrocarbon transactions off the coast of the occupied Crimea.
“Zelensky’s fight with Medvechuk is a fight with Putin,” said Hanna Hopko, chairman of the Ant Foundation, a Kyiv-based national interest advocacy organization.
At the same time, the oligarch used his political position to undermine Zelenksy’s reform momentum.The president has been working hard for an overhaul Notorious judicial system Many of their judges were appointed by former Russian President Viktor Yanukovich, who fled to Russia after being ousted from power in the pro-democratic revolution in 2014.
In order to promote the conflict between Kiev and Western supporters and undermine the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) US$5 billion rescue plan, last year’s congressmen who allied with Medvedchuk succeeded in Ukraine’s unreformed Constitutional Court. Applied for a neutral anti-corruption agency. Fearing that the court might cancel farmland sales and other reforms in the future, which was a condition for continued support from the West, Zelensky gave up his post as chief justice when the authorities launched an investigation against him.
Mykhailo Pogrebinsky, a political analyst who claims to be a “friend” of Medvedchuk, said that Zelensky acted like a “liar” in the 2019 election by suppressing critical media and trying to suppress party leaders backed by 3.5 million voters.
But Lutovich said that in recent months, the president’s rating in opinion polls has risen, indicating that “the elimination of Russian agents in Ukraine in Ukrainian society has received widespread support”.
She added: “It is surprising that after the Crimean invasion and the Eastern invasion, Medvechuk still managed to operate for so long and strengthen his influence.”
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