Ukraine War Day #49: Medvedchuk Arrest

Dear Readers:

The big news on the Ukrainian political scene is the arrest of Viktor Medvedchuk. This happened yesterday, April 12, which also happened to be Cosmonauts Day in Russia. It was also Day #48 of the war, for those who are keeping score at home; and the Ukrainian police claim that M [let’s call him that, for brevity] was on the run for all of those 48 days. Skeptics claim that M has actually been detained and tortured for all of those 48 days, just look at his face.

That whole “Cosmonaut Day” thing wasn’t a coincidence, either.

The reporter for this piece is Stanislav Borzyakov. Swaggering onto the stage for his stand-up set, “Happy Cosmonauts Day!” Zelensky joked, showing off a photo of an emaciated, tortured Medvedchuk sitting in handcuffs and looking like he just crawled out of Auschwitz. Personally, I don’t get the joke.

First of all, who is Viktor Medvedchuk? Here is the short version, for those who don’t follow Ukrainian politics all that closely. M is (or was) the leader of the second largest political party in the Ukrainian Parliament, it’s called “Opposition Platform For Life”. If you want to see what his NATO enemies are saying about him, you can read this Radio Free Europe hit piece about him. About his business deals, his close ties to Putin, the fact that he is a “godfather” to one of Putin’s kids, etc. All of which proves that he is a horrible person and deserves to be demeaned in this fashion. If you don’t believe me, just check out all the pro-Nazi trolls on reddit or yahoo!

NATO trolls are gloating at M’s mugshot.

One important thing to remember is that, prior to the start of the war, M was in the process of collecting Zelensky’s former electorate, those voters in the East and (partly) Center who wanted peace with Russia and more rights for the ethnic Russian speakers. Zel himself was elected on that platform, but quickly proved that he didn’t actually mean any of it. M gained in political popularity during the Covid thing, his numbers going up as a direct function of Zel’s going down, when, acting as an informal Ambassador to Russia, he used his influence to procure Russian Sputnik V vaccines for the Ukrainian people. Free of charge. Zel then proceeded to scotch the deal, refusing the Russian vaccines. Oh wait! I just got the joke: Sputnik vaccines – Cosmonaut... Maybe?

Long story short, M could have theoretically become the next President or Prime Minister of the Ukraine, had Zel not banned all other political parties, arrested their leaders, and shut down their TV channels. Preferring to rule in the style of a personal dictatorship even before the Russian invasion started.

According to the official version put out by the SBU, M tried to escape to Russia, dressed in a Ukrainian military uniform. [Which makes a lot of sense … not…]

The other version, according to which M has been in SBU custody all these past 48 days, has some corroboration in this: Certain Ukrainian journalists were watching M’s house and noticed a bunch of cops and other spooky types mingling around the house all the time. There was speculation that M was trapped inside, under house arrest. Or, he could have been hiding somewhere else, and the cops were waiting for him to return.

And then something happened: Mariupol fell. For real, this time. And Russia media were reporting (completely reliably) that something like 1000 Ukrainian marines gave themselves up. On that same day. On Cosmonauts Day. Zel himself knows that the news is true, so he decided to bring M in as a trophy for the bargaining. Zel may believe that Putin loves this guy so much, that he will trade 1000 Ukrainian POW’s just for the one Godfather. Will Putin actually do that? Personally I doubt it, the Russian blogosphere is already going nuts demanding that he trade for ordinary Russian soldiers, on a one-to-one type deal. M could be one of those traded, but he’s not really worth 1000 guys, that’s how the thinking goes.

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9 Responses to Ukraine War Day #49: Medvedchuk Arrest

  1. colliemum says:

    I’ll not enter into speculations of where Mr M was, under house arrest or hiding. I’ll not enter into a debate of should or shouldn’t he be ‘exchanged’ , as Mr ‘e says. I’ll not even underline the fact that the oh-so-democratic Mr ‘e has been wiping out oppositional parties like his predecessor in 1933 Germany did.
    I shall say this though: the publication of that photo of Mr M was aimed at humiliating him in front of the world’s MSM, not just because his alleged ‘friendship with Mr P which of course makes him a bad man, but because it subliminally underlines the Banderanista’s aim of showing how much like ‘Untermenschen’ Russians and indeed the enemies of Mr ‘e look.
    I shall also note, for the record, that, regardless of where Mr M was all these 48 days: he looks like a starving prisoner, like an inmate of the GULAG. Mr ‘e in contrast looks very well fed, even has put on some weight, his face looks full.
    It’s the contrast of those two photos which, for me tells the true story of the Kiev regime, war or not. And it’s that contrast which makes me take sides, emotionally – because ‘they’, the MSM and Mr ‘e want us to act emotionally. So I’m on the side of Mr M – even though I’ve long since given up on putting my trust in ‘Princes’ …

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    • yalensis says:

      Well done, colliemum. It’s kind of shocking to see Zelensky being so cruel, to the point of sadism. It’s normal for people to think that comedians are naturally likable, because their job is to make us laugh. But then you see somebody like Zelensky, and what he did to Medvedchuk, there is no doubt that he had the guy brutally tortured for the past 40 or so days, in the dungeons of the SBU. Here is Zel’s tweet, where he publicly humiliates and mocks the guy, who also happens to be his political competition. This actually reminds me a lot of Stalin, and the way he treated his competition:

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  2. nicolaavery says:

    Zelensky appears to be so incapable of negotiating any agreement that he now resorts to parades on television like some kind of local tribe leader. Bizarre.

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  3. Gareth says:

    Russian Foreign Ministry on Zelensky’s proposal to exchange Medvedchuk for Ukrainian POWs: “We consider this trend extremely dangerous, given that there are many opposition politicians in Ukraine.”

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    • yalensis says:

      Yup. They also pointed out that Medvedchuk is a Ukrainian citizen. Therefore, it makes no sense to trade a Ukrainian citizen for Ukrainian POWs.
      This whole thing is completely abnormal and pathological.

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  4. FatMax says:

    So, Ukronazis continue to demonstrate that they’re … what’s that cute Russian term?
    “Agreement-incapable” or something?
    People who treat their opponents (especially when they’re powerless) in such way should not be trusted.

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    • yalensis says:

      I think I know which term you mean in Russian, but it’s not on the tip of my tongue right now. “Not hand-shakable?” or something like that.
      Another way of putting it, in English, is that the Nazis just can’t get along with anybody. Those types even fight among themselves, unless they have a strong leader they can all Zig to, who keeps them in check.

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  5. Moscow Exile says:

    Tried posting this earlier. My posts won’t send.

    The words that were on the tip of your tongue, meaning “incapable of reaching an agreement”:

    noun: недоговороспособность

    adjective: недоговороспособный

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