11:40 11.08.2016

Former MP Medianik middleman between LPR separatists and Ukraine

2 min read
Former MP Medianik middleman between LPR separatists and Ukraine

Former deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and member of the Party of Regions Volodymyr Medianyk, who is suspected of taking premeditated steps with the aim of changing the borders of Ukrainian territory, worked as an intermediary between the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) and the Ukrainian side, Prosecutor General of Ukraine Yuriy Lutsenko has said.

"Medianyk was an intermediary between the Ukrainian side and LPR separatists," Lutsenko said on Wednesday during a press conference in Kyiv.

Lutsenko said he hoped Medianyk would give testimony.

"The key is what happened during the so-called separatist uprising in Luhansk. Medianyk was the intermediary between Ukrainian authorities and the militants during the seizure by Russian militants of Ukraine's State Security Services (SBU) and Luhansk Regional Administration buildings," he said.

Lutsenko said Medianyk at the time "played a positive role for the Ukrainian state, but this does not free him from suspicions investigators have about his role in the shenanigans."

"If Medianyk will cooperate with investigators I don't rule out that pre-trial confinement will not be extended for another two months. If Medianyk does not cooperate and employs the same tactics as Oleksandr Yevfremov's lawyers [former head of parliamentary Party of Regions faction during presidency of disgraced former President Viktor Yanukovych], he, like Yevfremov, will be charged under the harshest articles [of the Criminal Code of Ukraine] imaginable," the prosecutor general said.

Lutsenko said that investigators plan to wrap up the probe before the end of the year.

"The case is supported by evidence and is heading to court. We don't know if there will be more arrests made. We are taking all necessary legal steps now to ensure we wind up with more than arrests. We are aiming for arrests and compiling a body of evidence backing up the charges," Lutsenko said.

As earlier reported, on August 7 Lutsenko announced that Medianyk was arrested in the same case involving Yevfremov. PGO press secretary Larysa Sargan said Medianyk is suspected of "taking premeditated acts with the aim of changing the borders of the territory of Ukraine. This is in violation of the Constitution, which says individuals responsible for the death of people and other heinous crimes pursuant to Article 3, Para 100 of Ukraine's Criminal Code, as well as helping create and oversee the activities of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, an offense punishable under Part 1, Article 258-3 of the Criminal Code.

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