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Ukraine has seized the assets of imprisoned Putin ally Viktor Medvedchuk, including 50 houses, 26 cars, 30 plots of land and a yacht

    Putin ally Viktor Medvedchuk after capture by Ukraine

    Pro-Russian Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk seen in handcuffs while detained by security forces at an undisclosed location in Ukraine.Press Office of the State Security Service of Ukraine/Issue via Reuters

    • Putin ally Viktor Medvedchuk was captured by Ukrainian troops on Tuesday.

    • Medvedchuk was charged with treason and placed under house arrest when he escaped in February.

    • Ukrainian officials said they seized 154 of his assets, including houses, apartments and land.

    Ukrainian authorities said on Thursday they had seized property belonging to Viktor Medvedchuk, a Ukrainian politician and Kremlin ally who was arrested earlier this week.

    Medvedchuk was captured by Ukrainian security forces as he attempted to flee the country after escaping house arrest in February. Medvedchuk, who heads a pro-Russian opposition party, was charged with treason last year.

    The Ukrainian politician is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the godfather of Medvedchuk’s youngest daughter.

    Medvedchuk was also considered Putin’s first choice to replace Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with a pro-Russian puppet leader if Russian troops took Kiev. Ukraine even offered Russia Medvedchuk in exchange for Ukrainian prisoners – a proposal the Kremlin rejected.

    Ukrainian authorities said Thursday they seized 154 Medvedchuk assets, including 23 houses, 32 apartments, 30 plots of land, 26 cars and one yacht, The Washington Post reported.

    Medvedchuk was one of the richest people in Ukraine and was worth an estimated $620 million, Forbes Ukraine reported last year. He owned three Ukrainian TV stations that were blocked in 2021 when Zelenskyy said they were spreading and relocating Russian propaganda to freeze his assets.

    Earlier this week, Ukrainian media reported that a $200 million yacht belonging to Medvedchuk was seized by government officials after it docked in Croatia.

    Ukrainian activists last month said they visited the mansion where Medvedchuk was under house arrest after he escaped and that it had a 19th-century railway dining car with a gold-plated toilet.

    Read the original article on Business Insider