From Client to KGB: The Ukrainian Who Sent a Poet to His Death

Viktor Medvedchuk, once considered Vladimir Putin's closest ally in Ukraine, now lives in exile in Russia. He was captured while trying to flee Ukraine in April 2022. Before becoming a powerful politician and oligarch, Medvedchuk worked as a lawyer in Soviet Kyiv. In the 1980s, he defended the famous Ukrainian poet Vasyl Stus, a critic of the Soviet regime. Medvedchuk's defense failed. Stus was sentenced to 10 years in a prison camp, where he died in 1985. Many historians blame Medvedchuk for not properly defending his client. Some records suggest he cooperated with the KGB, the Soviet secret police. This early event shaped Medvedchuk's reputation as a man loyal to Moscow, not Kyiv. He later built a political career and vast business wealth based on ties to the Kremlin. He was exchanged for Ukrainian prisoners of war in 2022 and now remains in Russia.