DISINFO: Ukraine persecutes Medvedchuk to please Joe Biden
SUMMARY
Ukrainian authorities have been persecuting Viktor Medvedchuk and his fellow parliamentarians to please US President Joe Biden and his foreign policy course.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative alleging that Ukraine is not an independent state and decisions regarding its fate are made by actors in the West.
Contrary to the disinformation narrative, ongoing legal disputes surrounding Medvedchuk are of domestic in nature. On 11 May 2021, Medvedchuk was charged with high treason and, on 13 May, he was placed under house arrest after the Pechersky district court rejected a request from prosecutors to place him under pre-trial detention.
According to Ukrainian prosecutors, Medvedchuk stands accused of colluding with the Russian government to extract natural resources in Crimea, handing over classified information, and planning to create an influence network for conducting subversive activities in Ukraine. Prior to the house arrest, Ukrainian authorities imposed sanctions on Medvedchuk for alleged involvement in financing terrorism.
Alleged foreign control over Ukraine is a repeated element in pro-Kremlin disinformation. See a similar case discussing how George Soros was involved in Ukraine's Orange Revolution here.