Ukraine to probe Putin ally

Kiev prosecutors say they have launched a treason investigation into a politician close to Russian leader Vladimir Putin over calls to grant autonomy to regions in eastern Ukraine.

Viktor Medvedchuk is accused of “seeking to undermine the territorial integrity” of Ukraine and “high treason” ,a spokesperson for the prosecution service Larisa Sargan said.

The probe relates to a speech at an opposition conference in January, in which Medvedchuk said pro-Russian separatist territories should have their own government and parliament.

He said such an autonomous region would put an end to hostilities between and the government and pro-Moscow rebels, which has left about 13,000 dead over the past five years.

SECURITY SERVICES

The investigation would be carried out by the SBU, or security services, Sargan said.

The pro-Russian Opposition Platform For Life, at which Medvedchuk was speaking, denounced the Ukraine’s accusations as “delusional”. The probe had been ordered by prowestern authorities ahead of presidential elections due shortly, the group said.

Former pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted in 2014 following a bloody pro-West uprising, was found guilty of high treason in January this year.

The former leader, who is now living in Russia, was sentenced in absentia to 13 years in prison for asking Putin to send troops into Ukraine.

Oligarch Medvedchuk, who was the head of Ukraine’s presidential administration from 2002 to 2005, has represented Kiev in talks with rebels in the pro-Russian east.

It was on his suggestion that Putin held talks with the de facto leaders of the separatist regions for the first time in 2017.

Moscow has publicly thanked Medvedchuk, who is targeted by US sanctions, for his role in the negotiations.

Medvedchuk is the only Ukrainian whose plane is allowed to fly directly between Ukraine and Russia, despite a ban introduced in 2015, according to local media.