Another leaked tape has been published in the media, involving Vladimir Putin's main political operative in Ukraine, Viktor Medvedchuk, who has now been charged with high treason in Ukraine.
That's according to a new investigation by BIHUS Info released Monday afternoon.
The journalists published excerpts from multiple calls Medvedchuk had had since 2014 with the Russian top officials and the leaders of the so-called "Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics" ("DPR/LPR"). The journalists also claim that Medvedchuk had been in constant contact with the then-President Petro Poroshenko. However, the investigation notes, Medvedchuk engaged in the negotiation process at Putin's initiative.
During one of the conversations with "LPR" leader Aleksey Karyakin Medvedchuk said:
"I'm doing all this at the request of Putin and the request of Poroshenko. But I have nothing to do with Poroshenko and these official actions."
During another call with Karyakin, Medvedchuk said that Poroshenko, at demand voiced by terrorists, had ordered a U-turn for a Ukrainian military hardware convoy near the village of Izvaryne.
Also, journalists revealed that Medvedchuk often struggled to get through to Putin. "He can't just call Putin. To do this, he is supposed to keep persistently asking, which is humiliating," journalist Denys Bihus said.
Background
- On May 13, 2021, another recording of a phone call was leaked to the media, purportedly involving Medvedchuk. In a 2015 phone call, Medvedchuk allegedly spoke with the then-chief of the Russian Presidential Protocol, Vladimir Ostrovenko, who currently serves as deputy head of Russia's Presidential Administration. The Ukrainian politician asks Ostrovenko to tell the "boss" that he had "handed over everything that had been agreed upon."
- Prior to that, an audio recording of a purported conversation between Medvedchuk and Vladislav Surkov, former aide to the Russian president, was leaked. The talks covered the railway hub of Debaltseve in Donbas, as well as the negotiations between Russian proxy forces and the SBU Security Service of Ukraine.
- Medvedchuk has been charged with high treason in Ukraine. He is under house arrest according to a court ruling.
