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The Ukrainian government has been fighting Russian-backed separatists in eastern Donetsk and Lugansk since 2014. The conflict began with Moscow’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula earlier that year following Maidan’s pro-European revolution in Kiev. .
Kiev accuses Moscow of inciting troops and weapons sent to eastern Ukraine, and also calls separatists and their supporters terrorists.
Medvedchuk, 66, an enthusiastic ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been repeatedly accused in Ukraine of doing business in Russia.
On Friday, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council imposed sanctions on Medvedchuk, his wife, Oksana Marchenko, five Russian citizens and 19 companies.
“The sanctions will apply to all Medvedchuk assets,” council secretary Oleksiy Danilov told reporters.
According to him, V. Medvedčuk and O. Marchenko are involved in a criminal investigation into “terrorist financing”, but did not provide further details on the situation of the spouses in this case.
Kiev and Moscow, which have been hit hard since 2014, have been exacerbated by Ukraine’s decision this month to ban three pro-Russian TV channels to curb Kremlin propaganda.
The move was welcomed by Western countries, especially the United States, which imposed sanctions on Medwechuk when Moscow annexed Crimea.
In recent weeks, Putin’s ally has also been actively urging Ukraine to approve a Russian vaccine against the Sputnik V coronavirus, but the country’s pro-Western leadership has said the drug is a geopolitical tool of the Kremlin.
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