I currently live in Moscow on permanent basis "by necessity" – Medvedchuk

A traitor of Ukraine Viktor Medvedchuk [Ukrainian businessman and pro-Russian politician; Putin is the godfather to his daughter - ed.], who was handed over to Russia in September 2022 as part of a prisoners of war exchange, has admitted that he currently lives in Moscow.

Source: Meduza, Latvia-based Russian media outlet and Kremlin-aligned news outlet RBC, citing Medvedchuk in an interview to Russian-state controlled Channel One Russia

Quote from Medvedchuk: "I used to come to Moscow on various occasions; I would come for one day - arrive in the morning and leave in the evening. And now I live in Moscow all the time, by necessity. I did not leave Ukraine; I was exchanged."

Details: Medvedchuk also told Channel One that he had seen his younger daughter Daria. Earlier, the media found out that Medvedchuk's daughter has been living in Moscow since at least 2021 and is studying at the National Research University Higher School of Economics of Moscow. Daria’s mother, Oksana Marchenko, Medvedchuk's third wife, is also likely living with the girl.

Speaking about his detention in Ukraine in 2021 on charges of high treason, Medvedchuk called that day "the hardest day of his life" and described his persecution as "a terrible grief for his family."

Medvedchuk said that Ukrainian investigators did not use physical violence against him, and that psychological "pressure was constantly exerted".

In January, in an interview with Kremlin-aligned news outlet RT, Medvedchuk said that he learned about the exchange that took place on the night of 22 September 24 hours beforehand. 

"On the 21st [of September], I was first transferred by plane to Poland, where I was actually on the plane for 12 or 14 hours... But I clearly understood that this exchange would take place when I was transported from Poland to Ankara [Türkiye] by plane, and when I got off, I saw a Russian plane and realised that this exchange had already taken place," Medvedchuk said.

Previously: Oleksii Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, said that after an unsuccessful attempt to seize all of Ukraine, the Kremlin is hatching Plan B, proposals, for which Viktor Medvedchuk should prepare.

Before that, Viktor Medvedchuk announced his plans to create a new political movement in Ukraine in order to supposedly unite the "opponents" of Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Background:

• Viktor Medvedchuk is a people's deputy of the "The Opposition Platform – For Life" [it was a parliamentary and now banned pro-Russian and Eurosceptic political party in Ukraine], who, after the beginning of a full-scale invasion and defeat of the Russians in the Kyiv oblast, tried to leave the country, but he was detained by Ukrainian law enforcement officers.
• In 2020, Medvedchuk, through an associate Taras Kozak [pro-Russian politician – ed.], passed on information to Russia about the location of the hidden Armed Forces of Ukraine unit. 
• A state traitor and close friend of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, Medvedchuk managed to be exchanged for 200 Ukrainian prisoners. During Petro Poroshenko’s presidential term, Medvedchuk dealt with the issue of exchange with the invaders.
• After the exchange, the traitor was seen in the occupied Crimea together with his wife, who fled to Russia on the eve of the invasion. 
• In January 2023, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revoked Ukrainian citizenship from collaborators and state advisers Viktor Medvedchuk, Taras Kozak, Andrii Derkach and Renat Kuzmin of Ukrainian citizenship. After that, the Verkhovna Rada took away their mandates of people's deputies.

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