Putin’s ally Viktor Medvedchuk was arrested by Ukrainian forces on Tuesday. Medvedchuk was charged with treason and placed under house arrest when he escaped in February. Ukrainian officials say they have seized 154 of his assets, including houses, apartments and land.
Ukrainian authorities said on Thursday they had seized assets belonging to Viktor Medvedev, a Ukrainian politician and Kremlin ally who was arrested earlier this week. Medvedchuk was arrested by Ukrainian security forces while trying to flee the country after escaping from house arrest in February. Medvedchuk, who leads a pro-Russian opposition party, was charged with treason last year. The Ukrainian politician is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is the godfather of Medvedev’s youngest daughter. Medvedchuk was also seen as Putin’s top choice to replace Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with a pro-Russian puppet leader if Russian forces occupied Kyiv. Ukraine even offered Russia Medvedchuk in exchange for Ukrainian prisoners – a proposal the Kremlin rejected. Ukrainian authorities said on Thursday they had seized 154 assets belonging to Medvedchuk, including 23 houses, 32 apartments, 30 plots of land, 26 cars and a yacht, the Washington Post reported. Medvedchuk was one of the richest people in Ukraine and was valued at $ 620 million, according to Forbes Ukraine last year. He was the owner of three Ukrainian television stations that were blocked in 2021 when Zelensky said they were spreading Russian propaganda and moved to freeze his assets. Earlier this week, Ukrainian media reported that a $ 200 million yacht belonging to Medvedchuk had been confiscated by government officials after it had docked in Croatia. Ukrainian activists said last month that they had visited the mansion where Medvedchuk was under house arrest after escaping and that it contained a 19th-century train car that had a gilded toilet. Read the original article in Business Insider
