Zelensky strips Viktor Medvedchuk of Ukrainian citizenship

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has stripped Ukrainian citizenship from Verkhovna Rada deputy and former head of the political council of the pro-Russian party Opposition Platform - For Life (OPFL) Viktor Medvedchuk. Zelensky announced this in his evening address.

In addition, Taras Kozak and Renat Kuzmin , elected to the Verkhovna Rada from the Opposition Platform - For Life, as well as non-factional Rada deputy Andriy Derkach , have been stripped of their Ukrainian citizenship.

Zelensky said he had stripped these people of their citizenship “based on materials prepared by the Security Service of Ukraine and the State Migration Service of Ukraine.”

"If the people's representatives choose to serve not the people of Ukraine, but the murderers who came to Ukraine, then our actions will be appropriate," Zelensky said, adding that "these are not the last such decisions."

• Viktor Medvedchuk was the most famous pro-Russian politician in Ukraine before the war. He was called "Putin's godfather": Medvedchuk said that the Russian president was the godfather of his daughter.
• In 2021, the Ukrainian authorities accused Medvedchuk of treason and placed him under house arrest. After the war began, the politician left the place of house arrest. In April, Zelensky announced his detention, and in September he was transferred to Russia as part of a prisoner exchange. After the war began, the OPZZh party announced its closure, and the court banned its activities in Ukraine.
• Taras Kozak was known as a close associate of Medvedchuk and was accused of treason together with him in 2021, after which he left Ukraine. Andriy Derkach and Renat Kuzmin were accused of treason in the fall of 2022 (according to the investigation, they participated in "subversive activities against Ukraine"), their whereabouts are unknown.
• In the summer of 2022, there were reports that oligarch Igor Kolomoisky had been stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship, but they were not officially confirmed.