Viktor Medvedchuk: Vladimir Putin’s ‘right-hand man’ captured in Ukraine
Oligarch known as ‘Grey Cardinal’ pulled strings of pro-Russian forces for decades

Vladimir Putin’s “right-hand man” in Ukraine has been captured after fleeing house arrest following the Russian invasion almost two months ago.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last night posted an image of a “dishevelled” Viktor Medvedchuk, a Kremlin-linked oligarch known as the “Grey Cardinal”, wearing “handcuffs and dressed in army fatigues with a Ukrainian flag patch”, The Guardian reported.
Zelenskyy said the arrest took place after a “special operation” by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), adding in a video address: “I propose to the Russian Federation to exchange this guy of yours for our boys and our girls who are now in Russian captivity.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Family friend
Medvedchuk, who has said Putin is his daughter’s godfather, has been estimated by Ukrainian magazine Focus to have assets worth $460m (£353.8m), making him the 57th richest man in Ukraine. Experts have described him as Putin’s closest ally in the country.
Originally a lawyer who came to prominence through the defence of dissidents during Soviet show trials, he “grew rich from Russian oil interests and his proximity to the Kremlin”, The Guardian reported. He then founded “Opposition Platform – For Life” in 2018, a Ukrainian political party that “pursued a pro-Moscow agenda”.
In 2014, the White House said that he had deployed his “resources or influence to support or act on behalf of senior Russian government officials” during the annexation of Crimea. He was sanctioned by the US earlier this year in relation to an alleged plot to install a pro-Kremlin government in the event of a successful Russian invasion.
In May 2021, he was charged with treason in Ukraine over allegations of “selling military secrets to Russia and exploiting the natural resources of Crimea under Russian occupation”, The Guardian added. He denied the charges and was under house arrest until he successfully fled in the early days of the invasion.
Putin is “known to be a close personal friend” of the oligarch, Politico said. But his close links to the Kremlin mean that Zelenskyy has overseen a “crackdown” on Medvedchuk’s political activities since he was “elected president on a pro-Western platform in 2019”.
In February 2021, the president slapped sanctions on him and “ordered three Russia-linked TV channels that are thought to have been owned by the oligarch off the air for allegedly promoting anti-Ukrainian propaganda”, the site reported.
Following the Russian invasion, Zelenskyy also suspended his party along with a number of other political parties and organisations with close links to the Kremlin.
Fall from grace
For decades, Medvedchuk was “tolerated in Ukrainian political circles because he was seen as an important channel of communication with the Kremlin”, the BBC reported. But his treason charge and Putin’s invasion impacted his ability to run his political operations.
The Kremlin yesterday said that it had seen the image of Medvedchuk shared by Zelenskyy. Putin’s Dmitry Peskov said the photograph was being verified as there are “so many fakes now coming from Ukraine” that “everything needs to be checked”.
Following his arrest, the SBU said in a statement: “You can be a pro-Russian politician and work for the aggressor state for years. You may have been hiding from justice lately. You can even wear a Ukrainian military uniform for camouflage.
“But will it help you escape punishment? Not at all! Shackles are waiting for you and the same goes for traitors to Ukraine like you.”
His original arrest on treason charges “angered Putin who threatened to respond to what he deemed to be political persecution”, The Guardian said. And his detention now will come as a “significant blow” to the Russian president, The New York Times added.
Medvedchuk has been seen as the “Kremlin’s main agent of influence in Ukraine in recent years”, the paper said, meaning that his arrest could dramatically blunt Russia’s ability to destabilise the government in Kyiv in the years following the conflict.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Dark chocolate macadamia cookies recipe
The Week Recommends These one-bowl cookies will melt in your mouth
-
Israel's plan to occupy Gaza
In Depth Operation Gideon's Chariots will see Israel sending thousands of troops into Gaza later this month to seize control of the strip
-
Prince Harry's 'bombshell' BBC interview
Talking Point Royal claims he is not safe to visit the UK and fuels speculation over King Charles' health in 'extraordinary' BBC interview
-
Putin talks nukes as Kyiv slated for US air defenses
speed read 'I hope they will not be required,' Putin said of nuclear weapons on Russian state TV
-
US, Ukraine sign joint minerals deal
speed read The Trump administration signed a deal with Ukraine giving the US access to its mineral wealth
-
Ukraine-US minerals deal: is Trump turning away from Putin?
Today's Big Question US shows 'exasperation' with Russia and signs agreement with Ukraine in what could be a significant shift in the search for peace
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designation
The Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago
-
Russian strike kills dozens in Ukraine
Speed Read The Sumy ballistic missile strike was Russia's deadliest attack on civilians this year
-
Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance across Syria
THE EXPLAINER As Syria struggles in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, its neighbors are carefully coordinating to avoid potential military confrontations
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weapons
The Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests