Putin’s ‘true motivations behind Ukraine invasion’ revealed by Russian and Ukrainian officials

Ukrainian and Russian officials have claimed that Putin’s “true motives” behind the invasion of Ukraine stemmed from revenge against Zelensky for punishing a Ukrainian politician who was still friends with Moscow after the 2014 Crimean crisis.

Independent Russian outlet Verstka published a report on April 25 titled “How Putin Came to Hate Ukraine,” which quotes current and former officials in both Russia and Ukraine.

The article alleged that Russia began preparing for a military operation after Zelensky issued sanctions against Moscow’s ally and Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk.

Medvedchuk, 68, now living in exile in Russia, led the pro-Russian Opposition Platform for Life party before being placed on Ukraine’s sanctions list in 2021 for allegedly financing terrorism.

Three sources close to Putin said several sanctions imposed by Zelensky against Medvedchuk and allies were “the last straw,” prompting Putin to prepare for a full-scale military operation.

Putin (R) attends a meeting with Viktor Medvedchuk in Saint Petersburg, Russia, July 18, 2019

Medvedchuk was one of many pro-Russian voices to emerge in Ukrainian politics after the dissolution of the USSR.

He is a personal friend of Vladimir Putin and is currently in exile in Russia, having been part of a prisoner exchange in September 2022.

Putin is said to have been furious about the ‘personal attack’ on his ally in Ukraine.

Medvedchuk had reportedly told Putin about strong pro-Russian sentiment in Ukraine, “plainly misleading Putin,” said a source close to the presidential administration.

News Week reported after the war started, he still looked like the favorite to be appointed as the new head of state where Russia would finally defeat Ukraine.

The lawyer-turned-politician made a name for himself in Ukraine’s second government under President Leonid Kuchma as head of his presidential administration from 2002 to 2005.

The government was marred by corruption and saw Ukrainian-Russian ties improve.

Medvedchuk was later considered the key behind-the-scenes person who directed Viktor Yanukovych’s candidacy in 2004.

Yanukovych was deposed in February 2014 and later exiled to Russia.

More and more Medvedchuk protests against the European Union – to compare it to Hitler’s Third Reich.

Pro-Russian gunmen then stormed into the Crimean parliament and reportedly forced the installation of a new pro-Russian prime minister.

After Crimea, Medvedchuk was considered the most friendly Moscow politician still in Ukraine.

When Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko left office in 2019, Medvedchuk’s close associate Taras Kozak acquired three news channels.

The pro-Russian channels criticized President Zelensky, who came to power in May.

Medvedchuk’s Opposition Platform for Life party grew as a result, Verstka reports.

In response, a special operation was launched in February 2021 to “neutralize” Medvedchuk, the publication said.

Medvedchuk and his ally were beaten with harsh sanctions. The new president said the TV channels had been carrying out anti-Ukrainian propaganda and hindered Ukraine’s integration into the EU.

The channels were no longer allowed to broadcast, much to Putin’s chagrin.

Vertska claims that the sanctions also personally affected Medvedchuk, “who, along with his wife, was on the list of the SBU terrorism financing investigation.”

He was later one of them sanctioned by the British government in connection with the Russo-Ukrainian war.

Sources close to Putin said it was the destruction of Medvedchuk’s “source of information” that finally prompted Putin to invade in February 2022.

“The Kremlin decided to stop resorting to the means of ‘soft power’.”

Pictured: Zelensky arrives on April 9, 2022 for a meeting with the Austrian Chancellor in Kyiv

A day before the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, Kiev said that Medvedchuk had escaped from house arrest and fled.

Ukraine’s National Security Service wrote on Twitter: “You can be a pro-Russian politician and work for the aggressor state for years.

“Maybe you’ve been hiding from law enforcement lately. You can even wear a Ukrainian military uniform as camouflage… But will it help you escape punishment? Not at all! Chains await you.’

He was finally caught on April 12 during a “high-speed and dangerous multi-level special operation,” according to Ukrainian security services.

He was eventually handed over to a prisoner exchange in which Ukraine sent Medvedchuk and 55 Russian POWs in exchange for 215 POWs last September.