Vladimir Putin said that Ukraine is being turned into the "antipode" of Russia.

Commenting on the situation in the neighboring country, the Russian leader suggested that events on the territory of Ukraine would constantly require the attention of the Russian Federation in terms of ensuring the security of the state.

“Apparently - and this is very sad - Ukraine is slowly but surely being turned into some kind of antipode of Russia, into some kind of anti-Russia, into some kind of platform, from whose territory we will constantly, apparently, receive demanding special attention from our side from the point of view of ensuring the security of the Russian Federation news ”, - concluded the President.

Putin also called the recent decisions of the Ukrainian investigating authorities against opposition politicians in that country political.

During a meeting with permanent members of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, the president said that Ukraine is selectively blaming the joint work with Russia in the economic sphere.

“Although many, including those from the country's top political leadership, have been actively working for many years in Russia and, by the way, in Crimea too - and nothing, this is considered the norm,” the president said.

  • "Ukraine is slowly but surely being turned into some kind of antipode to Russia."

    Putin at a meeting with permanent members of the Security Council of the Russian Federation

The head of state added that we are talking about cleaning up the political field in Ukraine.

“The decisions are clearly political and selective, aimed only at one thing - to clean up the political field from those forces that advocate a peaceful resolution of the crisis in the south-east of Ukraine, in the Donbass, and for good-neighborly relations with Russia,” the president said.

The Russian leader drew attention to the fact that the Ukrainian opposition is accused of cooperation with Russia, while the country's authorities have been working in this direction "quite actively for many years."

The President noted that the trade turnover between Russia and Ukraine over the past year amounted to $ 9.9 billion.

"I can hardly imagine, if we objectively approach the solution of questions of this kind: what, everyone who works with Russia will now be brought to justice in Ukraine?"

- said Putin.

We will remind, on May 13, a court in Kiev placed under house arrest until July 9, the leader of the Ukrainian political party "Opposition Platform - For Life" Viktor Medvedchuk.

The investigation requested that the politician be placed in custody or a bail of 300 million hryvnias (about 800 million rubles).

At the same time, First Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Taras Govda announced the department's plans to challenge the court's decision on house arrest after the official publication of this decision.

Earlier, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine brought forward charges of treason and embezzlement of resources in the "occupied" Crimea against Medvedchuk and his party associate Taras Kozak.

Recall that Crimea became a Russian region after a referendum held in March 2014, in which the majority of the peninsula's residents voted for reunification with Russia.

According to the court decision on house arrest, Medvechuk is obliged not to leave Kiev and the Kiev region without the permission of the investigator and the prosecutor, and also to notify them and the court about the change of place of residence or work.

Also, the policy is directed to surrender a foreign passport and wear an electronic wristband.

Medvedchuk has already announced his readiness to comply with the court's decision, stressing that he considers the charges against him politically motivated.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke about the situation around Medvedchuk, noting that he sees in this process the "de-oligarchization" of Ukraine.

He published a column in Focus magazine with the title “Minus Medvedchuk.

What is the meaning of the policy of deoligarchization in Ukraine and who will be next. "

“With the help of legal tools, Medvedchuk was deprived of the opportunity to use media assets and state property in order to openly hit the country and cause devastating damage to state security,” Zelensky wrote in his column.

According to him, "there will be more disadvantages until all the oligarchs become just big businessmen."

Against this background, the "Opposition Platform - For Life" issued a statement regarding the placement of Medvedchuk under house arrest.

The political association believes that the prosecution was unable to provide evidence of Medvedchuk's guilt.

“The apparent emptiness of the charges made the court refuse to take the opposition politician into custody.

And the measure of restraint in the form of "house arrest" is only the result of unprecedented political pressure on the court from the ruling elite, "- said in a statement published on the party's website.