Is Putin planning to put a friend and former Ukrainian politician in charge of a pro-Russian puppet government in Ukraine? | Ukraine and Russia war

The pro-Kremlin politician, who headed his party “Opposition Platform – For Life” in Ukraine, was arrested in April last year after a special operation carried out by the Ukrainian secret service. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shared photos of Putin loyalists in handcuffs and Ukrainian uniforms. In September, Medvedchuk was the subject of a major prisoner exchange with Russia, after which he disappeared under the radar.

In the Russian newspaper Izvestia, the 68-year-old oligarch announced himself for the first time since the prisoner exchange. The report of the international peace organization “Carnegie Endowment for International Peace” on this subject. In the article, Medvedchuk talked about the overthrow of the Ukrainian government and presented himself as a key figure in the pro-Russian counter-government. “A political movement for those who did not give up, who did not renounce their beliefs even for fear of death or imprisonment, who did not want their country to become a backdrop for geopolitical shooting,” as Putin’s friend calls it.

The statements about a government-in-exile align with previous reports from Ukraine that Putin is working to create a counter-government that could negotiate with Europe on Ukraine’s behalf about the end of the war, of course in Russia’s favor. President Zelensky announced earlier this month that Medvedchuk and three of his accomplices have had their Ukrainian citizenship revokedso that they cannot present themselves as representatives of the country.