Ukraine says it captured pro-Russian politician, Putin ally in special operation

Ukrainian officials on Tuesday said the country’s forces captured Viktor Medvedchuk, a pro-Russian member of Parliament in Ukraine who fled house arrest in February.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted pictures of Medvedchuk in handcuffs on his official Telegram channel and said the Security Service of Ukraine, known as the SBU, had detained the politician in a special operation.

“You can be a pro-Russian politician and work for years for an aggressor state. You may be hiding from justice lately. You can even wear a Ukrainian military uniform for camouflage,” the SBU wrote in a Telegram post, but “shackles are waiting for you.”

Medvedchuk, the leader of Ukraine’s Opposition Platform — For Life, a pro-Russian party, was placed on house arrest last year on allegations that he committed treason and attempted to plunder resources in Crimea after Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula. But he reportedly escaped confinement in late February, according to Reuters.

Medvedchuk is also a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and has claimed Putin is a godfather to one of his daughters, according to Reuters.

Ivan Bakanov, the head of the SBU, said the pro-Russian leader was captured in a “lightning-fast and dangerous multilevel special operation.”

“No traitor will escape punishment and will be held accountable under the Law of Ukraine,” Bakanov said in a statement shared in the agency’s Telegram post.