President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he would consider the possibility of exchanging the head of the political council of the Opposition Platform for Life (Opposition Platform for Life) (Opposition Platform for Life) party, Viktor Medvedchuk, if he had Russian citizenship. The Ukrainian leader said this on Sunday, October 17.
“If Medvedchuk is a citizen of Ukraine and Ukrainian legislation is applied to him? On the other hand, if, for example, Russia would confirm that Mr. Medvedchuk has Russian citizenship, for example, well, it is quite possible. Let’s just say it is quite possible. Then we would be happy, after this confirmation or at least a hint, to consider the possibility of exchanging Mr. Medvedchuk for real heroes and citizens of Ukraine who are not in Ukraine, ”Zelensky said on the air of the ICTV channel.
On October 12, the Pechersky District Court of Kiev again sent Medvedchuk under round-the-clock house arrest for a period until December 7. The court did not support the petition of the prosecutor’s office to take the politician into custody with the appointment of a bail of 1 billion hryvnia (about $ 38 million).
The state prosecution announced its intention to appeal against the measure of restraint.
Medvedchuk was also dissatisfied with the judge’s decision. The politician called the criminal prosecution against himself illegal. According to him, all the criminal cases against him were fabricated. Thus, according to Medvedchuk, Kiev is fighting the opposition and trying to stop the political struggle with the authorities.
On October 8, the press service of the Security Service of Ukraine announced the announcement of Medvedchuk’s new suspicion of treason and assistance to terrorism in connection with his involvement in the illegal supply of coal from the “occupied territory” in late 2014 – early 2015.
The head of the political council of the OLE is also accused of attempted plunder of national resources. His colleague Taras Kozak is also involved in the case.