They decided to keep the Ukrainian opposition leader in prison

In May 2021, Medvedchuk was accused of treason against the state and violation of the rules of war, and was sentenced to house arrest.

The political leader was also tried last October on charges of high treason and facilitating the activity of terrorist organizations, charges that the accused rejected.

On February 27, his lawyer, Larisa Sherednichenko, reported that Medvedchuk had left his home in Kyiv, where he was serving house arrest, due to threats against his life received from nationalist groups, and on March 18 the court ruled his arrest.

His wife, Oksana Marchenko, this Saturday, asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to help get her husband released. “I am asking for your help to exchange my husband, who has been detained by the Kyiv authorities for political reasons,” she said.

He explained that the Ukrainian politician agreed to exchange it and transfer it to Russia if Kyiv and Moscow reached an agreement. “I do not believe in the possibility of a fair trial in the proceedings relating to Viktor Medvedchuk,” he said.

Marchenko said he also sought support from relatives of British mercenaries Aiden Aslin and Sean Benner, two of more than 1,000 soldiers who surrendered to Russian forces in Mariupol, suggesting that the London government could be asked to replace them with his husband.

On April 12, the Ukrainian President, Vladimir Zelensky, reported the arrest of Medvedchuk by the Kyiv security services, and later suggested to Moscow to exchange him for Ukrainian prisoners.

In this regard, the spokesman for the Russian presidency, Dmitry Peskov, indicated that his country does not see the possibility of exchanging Medvedchuk for captured Ukrainian soldiers, since he is not a Russian citizen and has nothing to do with the military operation.

On March 20, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine suspended the activities of 11 political parties during martial law, including the opposition platform – For Life.

dfm / mml