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“It just came to our attention then. Given all the threats we face, we will have to respond to this in a timely and appropriate manner,” Putin told the Security Council meeting, apparently referring to the prosecution of the influential pro-Russian MP Viktor Medvedchuk.
According to the president, Kiev seeks “to clear the political sphere of forces that advocate for peaceful solutions to the crisis in southeastern Ukraine, Donbass, as well as for neighborly relations with Russia.”
A Ukrainian court sentenced Medvedchuk to house arrest on Thursday, June 9. He is accused of attempts to steal natural resources in Russia’s annexed Crimea, as well as the transfer of Ukrainian military secrets to Moscow.
Medvedčuk himself stated that he had been charged with his position and was politically motivated.
“For political reasons, someone is selectively accused of cooperating with Russia in the economic field, although many, including the country’s top political leaders, have been active in Russia for many years, including in Crimea,” Putin said.
“The decisions are clearly political and selective,” he added.
Medvedchuk faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
The 66-year-old business magnate, who listed Putin as one of his friends, is seen in Ukraine as highly controversial because of his ties to Moscow, which supports pro-Russian separatists in their war with Kiev.
Medvedchuk is one of the richest people in Ukraine: Forbes magazine estimates his assets at 620 million. USD (510 million euros). The MP has said that Putin is the godfather of his youngest daughter, Darya.
The Ukrainian government has been fighting Russian-backed separatists in the eastern areas of Donetsk and Lugansk since 2014. The conflict began with the annexation of the Crimean peninsula by Moscow earlier that year after the pro-European Maidan revolution. in Kiev.
Kiev accuses Moscow of sending troops and weapons to eastern Ukraine to incite conflict, according to the UN, which has already demanded more than 13,000 soldiers. it lives. Russia denies this, although the evidence suggests otherwise.
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