Ukrainian suspect in Russian influence case goes into hiding

A Ukrainian national accused of carrying out a Russian influence campaign in Europe on behalf of a pro-Kremlin oligarch has gone into hiding and is claiming his innocence.

Artem Marchevskyi was a longtime associate of a pro-Russia media mogul, Viktor Medvedchuk. Czech authorities in March alleged that the pair set up an online outlet in Prague called Voice of Europe as a conduit to pay politicians to peddle Kremlin lines ahead of European parliament elections in June. Both men and the company are subject to asset freezes in the Czech Republic.

Poland, Germany, Hungary, Belgium, France and the Netherlands have launched intelligence investigations into elected officials taking up to €1mn a month from Medvedchuk and Marchevskyi, according to Belgian security officials.

Marchevskyi acted as Medvedchuk’s “puppet on a string”, Belgian officials said, and carried out the influence campaign on his behalf.

Medvedchuk, who is also a Ukrainian national, is residing in Moscow after a prisoner swap following Russia’s full-scale assault on Ukraine in 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin is godfather to one of Medvedchuk’s daughters.

Marchevskyi said he had not spoken to Medvedchuk since before the invasion. He told the Financial Times that he had known Medvedchuk “personally” when they were both in Ukraine and that at that time the oligarch was someone “whose opinion I listened to”.

“[My] plans are very simple — to seek justice and this applies not only to lifting the sanctions. [In] the press, I learned many incredible facts about myself and my life. All lies must be refuted . . . through a court decision,” he said.

Before the war, Marchevskyi was the general producer of Ukraine’s 112 TV channel, which was reportedly controlled by Medvedchuk. In 2021, the channel was banned in Ukraine over its pro-Russia stance.

Voice of Europe, whose site has been taken down, was similarly pro-Kremlin and featured interviews with politicians critical of western aid to Ukraine and calling on Kyiv to surrender in order to end the war — a regular Russian propaganda line.

But Marchevskyi denied acting as Medvedchuk’s proxy in the Czech Republic and claimed that he was not involved in the management of Voice of Europe. Instead, he said, the online outlet was run by a Polish national who is being investigated in Poland.

“My company was hired by Voice of Europe as a third-party contractor,” said Marchevskyi. He did praise the online outlet, however, as “becoming popular and gaining momentum” and claimed it was being persecuted because it “did not fit into the framework of the Czech government and the ruling globalist elites”.

Czech publication Deník N reported last week that Marchevskyi left the Czech Republic for Slovakia after the sanctions were imposed, where he was granted protection by the government of nationalist, Ukraine-sceptic Prime Minister Robert Fico.

The Slovak interior ministry said it was investigating Marchevskyi’s case and would not comment on his status until the probe was completed.

Marchevskyi declined to say whether he was still in Slovakia, citing security reasons. He confirmed that he had temporary protection as a Ukrainian in Slovakia. He said it was the same status he had in the Czech Republic and that he had “no contact” with the Fico government.

“I would like to meet them and chat. I am impressed by the current leadership of Slovakia. It is an island of sanity in Europe,” he added.

The Czech intelligence service told the FT it was continuing its investigation into Marchevskyi and Medvedchuk in co-ordination with other European services involved in the Voice of Europe case, which could eventually lead to criminal charges being filed against them.

Prague last month asked the EU to list Marchevskyi and Medvedchuk in the next round of sanctions in relation to Russia’s war in Ukraine. A draft sanctions proposal seen by the FT would ban Russian funding for European parties, think-tanks and non-governmental organisations. It would also place Voice of Europe on the sanctions list. The draft is pending unanimous approval by the bloc’s governments.

As for the broader network, one of the known suspects in the case is Germany’s Petr Bystron, a leading candidate of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) for the European parliament elections in June. German authorities have launched a preliminary investigation into him. Bystron denies any wrongdoing.

Other far right and ultraconservative members of the European parliament who appeared on the Voice of Europe website are also being investigated, according to Belgian officials.