Ukraine Arrests Putin’s Closest Ukrainian Ally

Russian forces continue limited offensive operations in the eastern part of Ukraine as Moscow works to reconstitute military elements that were withdrawn from the Kyiv offensive.

As attacks on several key eastern Ukrainian regions rage on, Russia is still establishing the necessary logistical facilities to support the offensive in the Donbas and is currently engaging in small-scale fighting on the Izyum and Severodonetsk axis.

Key Putin ally, fugitive caught

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest Ukrainian ally and opposition leader Viktor Medvedchuk, was arrested in an operation the Ukrainian security service called “lightning-fast and dangerous”.

The arrest of Medvedchuk was announced by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on social media, where he also posted a picture of the fugitive in handcuffs and dressed in army fatigues with the Ukrainian flag patch.

Zelenskyy proposes prisoner swap to Russia

“I propose to the Russian Federation to exchange this guy of yours for our boys and our girls who are now in Russian captivity,” the president said in a video address published on Telegram.

Medvedchuk was charged with treason in May 2021, with the government citing the sale of military secrets to the Russian Federation and the exploitation of natural resources in Russian-occupied Crimea as the reason for the charge. He was placed on house arrest.

Medvedchuk escaped during the first days of the Russian invasion. (GFB)