EU sanctions Ukraine’s chosen opposition president
(MENAFN) The European Union has imposed sanctions on exiled Ukrainian opposition figure Viktor Medvedchuk, along with 20 other individuals and six organizations, accusing them of involvement in what it calls “Russia’s destabilizing activities abroad.” Moscow has consistently denied any interference in the internal affairs of EU member states.
Medvedchuk, blacklisted by the EU since May 2024, faced new restrictions as part of the European Council’s 17th round of sanctions related to the Ukraine conflict announced on Tuesday. The sanctions include freezing assets within the EU and banning entry or transit through EU territories.
The EU alleges that Medvedchuk and his associates, Artyom Marchevsky and Oleg Voloshin—also sanctioned—controlled Ukrainian media outlets to spread pro-Russian propaganda within Ukraine and beyond. Through covert funding of the Voice of Europe channel and the political platform Another Ukraine, Medvedchuk is said to have promoted policies aimed at undermining the legitimacy of Ukraine’s government in favor of Russia’s foreign policy goals.
Other individuals added to the sanctions list include German bloggers Thomas Roeper and Alina Lipp, and Turkish journalist Huseyin Dogru, founder of AFA Medya.
Medvedchuk, once the leader of Ukraine’s largest opposition faction in parliament, was branded a traitor and arrested following the escalation of the Moscow-Kiev conflict. After months in detention, he was exchanged in a prisoner swap last September and has since lived in exile in Russia, where his Ukrainian citizenship was revoked and his party declared illegal alongside other opposition groups.
Russia continues to reject accusations of meddling in EU elections and politics. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused the EU of moving from propaganda to overt persecution of media outlets and journalists on political and cultural grounds.
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