On Tuesday, Ukraine’s security services revealed that they had arrested pro-Russian politician Viktor Medvedchuk, who is President Vladimir Putin’s closest and most influential ally in Ukraine.
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky had earlier published a photo of a tired-looking and handcuffed Medvedchuk. It was last year when Medvedchuk, the leader of the Opposition Platform – For Life party, had escaped from house arrest.
In an online post, the security services said:
“You can be a pro-Russian politician and work for the aggressor state for years. You may have been hiding from justice lately. You can even wear a Ukrainian military uniform for camouflage,”
“But will it help you escape punishment? Not at all! Shackles are waiting for you and the same goes for traitors to Ukraine like you.”
Medvedchuk who denied his wrongdoings also previously said that Putin is godfather to his daughter.
The spokesman of the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov said that Medvedchuk was a Ukrainian citizen and denied any covert connection between the politician and Moscow.
“As regards the exchange, which various individuals in Kyiv are talking about with such passion and glee, Medvedchuk is not a citizen of Russia and he has nothing to do with the special military operation. He is a foreign politician,” Mr. Peskov said.
He also added that Moscow has “no idea” whether Medvedchuk himself would want such an exchange.
The Epoch Times also reported:
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday said that images and footage of dead bodies strewn across the Ukrainian town of Bucha were fake.
Speaking at a televised news conference after talks with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko, Putin compared Ukrainian allegations that Russian servicemen executed civilians in Bucha to what he said was the staging by the West of a chemical weapons attack in Syria aimed at incriminating Bashar al-Assad.
“It’s the same kind of fake in Bucha,” Putin said.
Ukraine has accused the Russian military of executing residents of Bucha, a town outside the capital Kyiv that Russian troops had occupied for several weeks before withdrawing.
Russian authorities have accused Ukraine of staging the harrowing scene to derail peace talks and prompt the West to impose more sanctions against Moscow.
Continue reading here: The Epoch Times
Sources: The Epoch Times