Viktor Medvedchuk, the leader of the banned Opposition Platform – for Life party, and several other current and former opposition Members of Parliament have had their Ukrainian passports revoked, according to President Vladimir Zelensky.
Zelensky stated on Tuesday that Medvedchuk, Andrey Derkach, Taras Kozak, and Renat Kuzmin had their Ukrainian citizenship revoked based on materials prepared by the country’s Security Service (SBU) and migration authorities, and in accordance with the constitution.
“If the parliamentarian chooses to serve not the people of Ukraine, but the killers who came to Ukraine, then we’re going to act accordingly,” he explained, implying that the politicians stripped of their citizenship had been working with Russia, RT reports.
“Those aren’t the last such decisions. The special services are working,” Zelensky added.
All of the sanctioned individuals fled Ukraine during Zelensky’s government’s crackdown on opposition following Russia’s military operation in the country, which began in February last year.
Medvedchuk was detained in Ukraine for months after being arrested in April, shortly after his party, the country’s second largest, was declared illegal, along with a dozen other opposition groups.
The 68-year-old had previously been charged with treason for alleged Russian collusion. Derkach, Kozak, and Kuzmin have all been accused of the same thing.
Opponents of Medvedchuk accuse him of being a pro-Russian politician, which he denies. He has previously been labeled a “Ukrainian nationalist” by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Medvedchuk was released in September as part of a large prisoner swap involving Kiev and Moscow. In addition, 55 Russian and Donbass soldiers were returned home, while Ukraine received 150 troops back, including many fighters from the infamous nationalist Azov Battalion, which surrendered to Russian forces during the battle of Mariupol.
Medvedchuk had previously taken an active role in organizing prisoner exchanges between Ukraine and the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.
According to media reports, Zelensky revoked the citizenship of 13 canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) priests in December. The church had previously been subject to the Moscow Patriarchate.