International

Ukraine seizes 154 assets of pro-Russian party leader, including 55 homes, 26 cars

Ukrainian authorities on Wednesday seized 154 assets — including 55 homes, 26 cars and a yacht — from Viktor Medvedchuk, a pro-Russian member of Ukraine’s Parliament who was captured by the nation’s forces on Tuesday.

The court of Lviv seized the assets at the request of Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation and the Prosecutor General’s Office, according to a Thursday release.

Also among the assets were 30 plots of land, 32 apartments and 17 parking spaces, and authorities took control of Medvedchuk’s shares in 25 companies.

Medvedchuk is the leader of the pro-Russian Ukrainian party in Parliament, the Opposition Platform — For Life. He also claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin is the godfather of one of his daughters.

The Ukrainian politician was placed on house arrest last year for charges of treason and plundering resources in Crimea following Russia’s 2014 annexation.

Ukraine’s security service, known as the SBU, captured Medvedchuk on Tuesday after he previously fled home confinement shortly after Russia invaded the nation on Feb. 24.

After his detention, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky offered to swap Medvedchuk for Ukrainians held as prisoners in Russia, but the Kremlin rejected the offer on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

Ukraine’s investigative bureau on Thursday said they will continue “to prosecute traitors and confiscate their property, as required by law.”