UKRAINIAN President Volodymyr Zelensky offered to swap pro-Kremlin tycoon Viktor Medvedchuk, who was arrested after escaping house arrest by Kyiv, for Ukrainians captured by Russia.

Medvedchuk, 67, counts Russian President Vladimir Putin among his personal friends and said the latter is godfather to his youngest daughter Darya.

“I propose to the Russian Federation to exchange this guy of yours for our boys and girls who are now in Russian captivity,” said Zelensky in a video address posted on Telegram.

“May Medvedchuk be an example for you. Even the former oligarch did not escape. What can we say about much simpler criminals from the Russian hinterland? We will get everyone.”

Ukrainian authorities yesterday announced that they have captured a prominent pro-Kremlin tycoon who escaped house arrest following the invasion.

Zelensky posted a picture online of a dishevelled-looking Medvedchuk with his hands in cuffs and dressed in a Ukrainian army uniform.

“A special operation was carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine. Well done!” he wrote on Telegram.

Security agency chief Ivan Bakanov said agents carried out a “lightning-fast and dangerous multilevel special operation to detain” the Russia-friendly lawmaker.

Medvedchuk, one of the richest people in Ukraine, is a hugely controversial figure for his close ties to the Kremlin.

He was held under house arrest since last year on treason charges over accusations of attempting to steal natural resources from Russia-annexed Crimea and handing Ukrainian military secrets to Moscow. – AFP, April 13, 2022.