Zelensky destroyed Ukraine and threw it 'into the fires of war', says one of the country's opposition leaders.

Sputnik - One of the most prominent Ukrainian opposition politicians, Viktor Medvedchuk, doesn't mince words when speaking about the current leader of the Ukrainian regime, Volodymyr Zelensky, whose policies he unequivocally labels "neo-Nazi." In an exclusive interview with RT, he accuses the president of disrespecting democracy and the laws of the country, which he labels as "destroyed."

Arrested last April, his photo, in which he appears handcuffed by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU, in its Ukrainian acronym), circulated as a kind of "trophy" among official Ukrainian channels.

His assets, and those of his wife, Oksana Marchenko, were confiscated by the country's government.

His fate, he believed, was uncertain. Until he was surprised by the negotiation that freed him, in a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine in the context of a special military operation, at the end of September last year. Since then, he has lived in Russia with a vague status, as he was deprived of his Ukrainian citizenship.

He levels relentless criticism against Zelensky, whose ideology, he warns, needs to be "destroyed." He doesn't know, however, what fate awaits the leader of the Ukrainian regime.

"His fate is unknown to me. But I must say that I would love to see him answer for everything he has done to Ukraine and its people. He destroyed the country. He threw it into the fire of war. That is his fault. I would like to remind you of what many forget nowadays, unfortunately. About what happened shortly before February 24th. I was giving many interviews and talking about this as well. About the need to avoid war, to do everything to avoid it. Could Zelensky have done something? I'm sure he could have. And moreover, he had to. He had to follow the Minsk Agreements. You heard the revelations of [former German Chancellor Angela] Merkel and [former French President François] Hollande. And even [former Ukrainian President Petr] Poroshenko is trying to get involved (...) We need to destroy Zelensky's ideology. He thinks Ukraine is united and everyone supports him, [supports] war and there is no one who wants peace or a different future, while we believe that these people They exist, and they are Ukrainian too. They have the right to speak their minds. They have the right to speak and be heard.

Elected four times as a member of parliament by the Ukrainian people, Medvedchuk is a lawyer and has been active in the country's macro-politics since 1997, when he was first elected to Parliament.

The following year, he became vice-president of the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian State Parliament. From 2002 to 2005, Medvedchuk worked as head of the administration of the President of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma.

He was one of the fiercest opponents of the coup known as Euromaidan (which advocated a violent "revolution" by far-right, nationalist and neo-Nazi groups), against which he openly opposed in 2014, becoming a political target for confronting the Ukrainian regime.

After a period of silence, he published an article last week about the current situation in Ukraine and the conditions that led the country to where it is today.

Medvedchuk expresses gratitude for the assistance given by Russian leaders in his release and extradition.

"I am very grateful to the Russian leadership for this exchange — they helped me and my family. It was a very difficult time in my life, and in my family's life. I am grateful that I didn't go through what I could have gone through in Ukraine. Because of the criminal proceedings that were fabricated against me between 2019 and 2020, I would have been sentenced to 15 years in prison — that's what I was told, and I believe they would have done it, even though there was no legal basis for the accusation."

He recounts the political persecution perpetrated by Zelensky because of his opposition to the directives of the current Ukrainian regime.

He states, however, that he continues to fight for the rights of Ukrainians.

"My current status is not a simple matter. I am a citizen of Ukraine. I even have a Ukrainian passport. However, Zelensky is determined to destroy me as an opposition politician in his relentless fight against me. First, he issued an order to continue litigation and investigations into criminal proceedings against me. My lawyers are defending my interests in Ukraine. Second, he made a reckless or even insane move to strip me of my citizenship based on the suspicion that I had Russian citizenship. I never had Russian citizenship. And I didn't need it, because I am a Ukrainian politician, I always have been. I didn't leave, I didn't give up. I continued fighting, even under house arrest. I continued fighting even after my release due to the exchange, during these three months of long silence. I wouldn't call it silence. It has been a systemic effort to help not only Ukrainians, but also to benefit the interests of Ukrainian and Russian citizens, in the current circumstances and amidst hostilities, amidst thousands of victims, amidst the destruction of infrastructure (...) I believe it is a direct violation of the Constitution to deprive me of my citizenship." "Ukrainian. And it's not just my opinion. It's impossible to deprive a citizen of Ukraine of their citizenship except by a voluntary request. It contradicts not only the Constitution, but also an international convention, which prohibits doing so if a person becomes stateless."

Ukraine has acceded to this international convention, he explains.

Despite this, Zelensky continues his efforts to crush a political opponent through political repression and criminal prosecution, which Medvedchuk considers illegal.

"It's a goal he [Zelensky] set for himself and is striving to achieve. I didn't change my mind even while in the custody of the Security Service of Ukraine, where I spent six months. So I continue fighting. And today I want to express the opinion of a different Ukraine, an opinion that some people remain silent about, others are afraid to express. I want this voice to be heard loud and clear in Russia, in Ukraine, and in the West. There are people who represent a different Ukraine. Not the Ukraine ruled by disciples of [Stepan] Bandera [a collaborator of Adolf Hitler who was in charge of two SS battalions]. The other Ukraine, which has nothing to do with Zelensky's neo-Nazi statements and policies."

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