Ukraine is becoming ‘anti-Russia’, Putin says
According to ALJAZEERA, Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused neighbouring Ukraine of becoming “anti-Russia” and warned Moscow would be ready to react to what he said were threats to its own security amid soaring tensions with Kyiv.
Putin’s comments on Friday came a day after a Ukrainian court placed Viktor Medvedchuk, a prominent pro-Russian politician and personal friend of the Russian president, under house arrest.
Medvedchuk, who has promoted closer ties with Russia and acted as an intermediary between Moscow and Kyiv in the past, is being investigated over treason allegations he has dismissed as politically motivated. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
Speaking at a meeting of Russia’s security council, Putin accused Kyiv of overseeing a “cleansing” of the country’s political space.
He said Ukrainian authorities were targeting individuals who favoured better ties with Russia and supported a peaceful settlement in eastern Ukraine, where Ukrainian forces have been fighting Russian-backed separatists since 2014, and also highlighted the closing of some pro-Russian media outlets.
“Judging by everything, and this is very sad, Ukraine is slowly but surely turning into some kind of polar opposite of Russia, some kind of anti-Russia, and into a platform from whose territory it seems we will constantly receive news requiring our special attention from a security point of view,” Putin said.
“National media outlets are being shut down – and our Western partners are not reacting at all, if not to say supporting such rulings,” he added.
Putin went on to warn Moscow would not stand idly by amid what he described as a selective crackdown on certain individuals doing business with Russia.
“This is, of course, an issue that should always be on our radar and we should respond to this given the threats being created for us in a timely and appropriate manner,” he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy defended the moves against Medvedchuk.
He said on Friday the crackdown on Medvedchuk, which began in February when he and several associates were sanctioned and three television channels owned by an ally were forced off air, was a legal way of choking off what he described as his malign influence.
