Putin confidante and Ukrainian opposition politician Viktor Medvedchuk studies from exile.
Earlier this yr, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stripped him of his Ukrainian citizenship for prime treason. Now Medvedchuk has revealed an article within the Russian newspaper “Izvestia”. In it he apparently speaks of the creation of a Ukrainian authorities in exile to oppose Zelenskyy’s authorities. This is reported by the US suppose tank “Carnegie Endowment”.
Medvedchuk repeats Putin’s accusations towards the West, accuses the “ungrateful Ukrainian public” of “selling out their Slavic brotherhood to the West” and reminds readers “that the industrialized Donbass region has long fed the rest of the country”. .
“His intrigues led to quarrels rather than victories”
The former chief of the pro-Russian get together “Opposition Platform – For Life” is a key determine for Putin in relation to Ukraine. He was accused of treason in Ukraine in 2021 and positioned beneath home arrest. In September 2022 he got here to Russia as a part of a prisoner trade.
Still, it’s uncertain whether or not Medvedchuk might grow to be a unifying determine, even in pro-Russian Ukrainian émigré circles. Because Medvedchuk has “the reputation of a master of intrigue behind the scenes”, however has “never been particularly effective” on this regard, in keeping with the Carnegie Endowment.
Since 2015, Russia has been attempting to arrange “a kind of Ukrainian government-in-exile” and this newest try is unlikely to “have any more success than previous efforts”. At finest, this government-in-exile might tackle the position of a sort of recruitment middle recruiting folks “who are supposed to work in the puppet administrations in the occupied territories of Ukraine.”
Resurrection might have unsettling significance
According to the Carnegie Endowment, this “recent revival of the old idea of a good Ukraine” exhibits that Russia is caught in a political deadlock. At least Zelenskyy refuses to fulfill the Russian calls for and the West helps the Ukrainian armed forces with increasingly arms provides.
Medvedchuk’s return to the political stage might due to this fact additionally level to preparations for a serious new offensive that Russia is reportedly planning. Medvedchuk might be arrange as a political determine, a sort of bringer of peace, and thus unfold the narrative of the “evil West” in Ukraine.
