Experts are currently examining recordings of conversations allegedly belonging to Member of Parliament from the Opposition Platform – For Life Viktor Medvedchuk, who is suspected of high treason, about his actions in the period 2014-2018.
Spokesman for the SBU Security Service Artem Dekhtyarenko announced this in a comment for DOM TV channel.
The recordings were recently released by Ukrainian journalists.
Now the experts are checking the authenticity of the released tapes. Dekhtyarenko noted that at a briefing, the SBU chief and the prosecutor general were able to disclose only what could have been made public.
He added that there were other facts that were under investigation.
Previous developments
On May 17, 2021, journalists released recordings with negotiations between Medvedchuk, which he had conducted since 2014 with high-ranking officials of the Russian Federation and "leaders" of the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic" ("DPR") and "Luhansk People's Republic" ("LPR"). The journalists found that Medvedchuk and the then president Petro Poroshenko had been in constant contact. However, he became a participant in the negotiation process at the initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin. During his conversations, Medvedchuk himself emphasized that he had often communicated and met with the then Ukrainian president, including at night and on the weekend. Among other things, meetings took place in the then Presidential Administration on Bankova Street in Kyiv.
Background
- On May 11, 2021, Ukraine's Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova said she had signed off charges of high treason and attempted plunder of national resources in Russian-occupied Crimea, targeting MPs from the Opposition Platform – For Life Party Viktor Medvedchuk and Taras Kozak, under Articles 111 (treason) and 438 (violation of the laws and customs of war) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
- Operatives with the SBU Security Service of Ukraine raided Medvedchuk's homes in Kyiv, as well as his party's office.
- On May 12, 2021, Medvedchuk was given a suspicion notice. He is facing charges on three counts.
- On May 12, 2021, Medvedchuk reported to the Office of the Prosecutor General, stating he considered the case politically motivated, and the accusations were unsubstantiated.
- Taras Kozak has crossed out of Ukraine, investigators say.
- On May 13, 2021, Kyiv's Pechersk District Court placed Medvedchuk under house arrest. He was obliged to wear an ankle monitor.
- On May 15, 2021, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov assessed the probability of Medvedchuk being exchanged for Ukrainian citizens held in Russian prisons. "The decision on the exchange is made by the President of Ukraine. I think, if there is such an opportunity, we will gladly do it," he said.
- On May 18, 2021, the Office of the Prosecutor General and lawyers appealed against Medvedchuk's 24/7 house arrest. Prosecutors insisted on the application of a preventive measure in the form of detention with the alternative of paying bail worth about UAH 300 million, Medvedchuk's lawyers demanded the preventive measure be eased.
