Erdogan Provides Information on Medvedchuk

The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, announced that Ukrainian political figure Viktor Medvedchuk traveled to Russia following a prisoner exchange. Earlier, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that he did not know Medvedchuk's whereabouts, according to kommersant.ru.

“During the prisoner exchange, we had 200 individuals. We have the names of all of them. They are all our guests. Putin emphasized one of them (Viktor Medvedchuk - Kommersant). We sent him to Russia. We are decisively continuing the process,” Erdogan told reporters.

On the night of September 22, the Ukrainian side announced that it had handed over opposition politician Viktor Medvedchuk to Russia in exchange for Ukrainian prisoners of war, including commanders of the Azov regiment (banned in Russia). Later, the fact of Viktor Medvedchuk's exchange was confirmed by the self-proclaimed leader of the Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin. The Kremlin has repeatedly declined to comment on the exchange.

Viktor Medvedchuk is a member of the Ukrainian Parliament and the leader of the “Opposition Platform - For Life” party. He is often referred to as the “godfather” of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Medvedchuk had been under house arrest since May 2021. Ukrainian authorities claimed that he fled and was hiding in February 2022, and was detained in April. Medvedchuk has consistently supported peace and the establishment of mutually beneficial partnership relations between Russia and Ukraine.