Of the 215 prisoners freed from russian captivity, 200 defenders were swapped directly for Viktor Medvedchuk. Acting SSU Head Vasyl Maliuk personally met the liberated Ukrainians in Chernihiv region during the exchange, organized under the leadership of the President’s Office.

‘Medvedchuk is not just Putin’s crony, but also a traitor well documented by us. His guilt is fully recorded within the relevant proceedings. In addition, while working on Medvedchuk’s case, we dismantled multiple agent networks, detained numerous traitors, and obtained a large amount of important information that we are using in the counterintelligence efforts. And now, due to the exchange, we were able to return from russian captivity our heroes long-awaited home,’ Vasyl Maliuk said.

The Acting SSU Head emphasized that the exchange of Viktor Medvedchuk for Ukrainian defenders does not prevent consideration of his cases in court: ‘This applies to making decisions, sentencing, and confiscation of seized property. After all, in such a case, a special trial procedure is applied in the absence of the accused.’

Vasyl Maliuk added that the swap became possible due to changes to current legislation, which regulated the relevant legal mechanisms.

To save lives and health of our defenders, the Coordination Staff for Treatment of POWs made the decision to carry out the exchange. Medvedchuk himself also consented. The court granted the prosecutor’s motion.

The Acting SSU Head noted that despite difficult negotiations, the exchange was successful: Ukraine returned much more of its defenders than released captive russians.

‘Efforts of many people from various agencies over many months have been crowned with success. And this is a great merit of the Coordination Staff. I thank everyone who was involved in this exchange, especially the Head of State Volodymyr Zelenskyi and the Head of the President’s Office Andriy Yermak,’ Vasyl Maliuk emphasized.

He pointed out the important role of each state institution involved: the President’s Office, the Ministry of Defence, the Armed Forces, the MoD Main Intelligence Directorate, the Ministry for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the State Emergency Service, and others.

The Acting SSU Head reminded that since the beginning of russia’s full-scale invasion, a total of 20 such liberations have taken place, bringing back home 802 captives.

Earlier, Medvedchuk was notified of suspicion of treason (Article 111.1 of the CCU), supporting a terrorist organization (Article 258-3.1 of the CCU) and plundering national values (Article 438.1 of the CCU).

The investigation established that Medvedchuk, acting in a prior conspiracy with the then President of Ukraine, the Minister of Energy and Coal Industry and other persons, agreed with the members of the L/DNR terrorist organizations and organized supply of coal from the temporarily occupied territories, beginning in November 2014. Thus, he contributed to financing of terrorists.

An exhaustive evidence base has been collected (witnesses’ testimonies, telephone conversations, experts’ conclusions, material evidence) proving the involvement and guilt of Viktor Medvedchuk and other suspects of particularly serious crimes against Ukraine.

In another criminal proceeding, the investigation established that Medvedchuk had passed information on location of a military unit of the MoD Main Intelligence Directorate, its covert combat training and personnel to russian special services. This harmed Ukraine’s defence capabilities.

In addition, in November 2020, Viktor Medvedchuk took an active part in the development of an anti-Ukrainian project Promin, which aimed to strengthen the influence of russian special services on political situation in Ukraine.

Medvedchuk has also committed a number of unlawful actions against Ukraine in the interests of russia, plundering national values ​​(oil and gas) worth over UAH 38 billion (USD 892 mln) in the temporarily occupied Crimea.

Presently, the property of Medvedchuk and his wife has been seized. This includes:

• 30 land plots with an area of ​​over 144 hectares;
• 72 items of real estate (houses, apartments, garages, buildings);
• 2 yachts, the value of one being about EUR 200 mln;
• 24 vehicles;
• 1 railway car;
• corporate rights of 25 enterprises;
• 316 items of expensive paintings, watches, vases, etc.