In May, authorities put Medvedchuk, the Kremlin's most prominent ally in Ukraine, under formal suspicion of treason as part of a crackdown on his circle that has fuelled tensions between Kyiv and Moscow. In a statement, the party accused President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's government of trying to "divert people's attention from their catastrophic failures." During the prosecutors' briefing, they played recordings of telephone conversations in which people with voices supposedly similar to those of Medvedchuk, Russian officials and separatist leaders, discussed coal supply schemes. Prosecutors accused Medvedchuk of colluding with state officials to block coal purchases from the international market. Venediktova said prosecutors would ask the court to arrest Medvedchuk or set bail of 1 billion hryvnias ($38 million).

Source: The Star October 08, 2021 18:00 UTC