President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has deprived four deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukrainian citizenship. Three of them are from the Opposition Platform – For Life faction: Viktor Medvedchuk, Taras Kozak and Renat Kuzmin. Non-factional Andrei Derkach also lost his citizenship.
“Based on the materials that were prepared by the Security Service of Ukraine and the State Migration Service of Ukraine, and in accordance with the constitution of our country, I decided to terminate the citizenship of four persons. <…> If people's deputies choose to serve not the people of Ukraine, but the murderers who came to Ukraine, then our actions will be appropriate," Zelensky said in his daily video message.
On April 12, the SBU detained Putin's godfather Viktor Medvedchuk. He and his wife Oksana Marchenko offered Putin to exchange him for the defenders and residents of Mariupol, and as a result, the exchange took place. Since 2021, Medvedchuk and his ally Kozak have been under sanctions by the National Security and Defense Council for anti-Ukrainian activities. In April 2022, the head of Bellingcat Hristo Grozev, citing sources, said that Kozak is a Russian agent.
Kuzmin in December 2019 on the air of the pro-Russian Ukrainian TV channel "112" called the separatists from the "LDNR" the defenders of Donbass from the "Zelensky regime". In October 2022, he was notified of suspicion of high treason for spreading anti-Ukrainian propaganda. Regarding Derkach, it is known that in June 2022 he allegedly created a network of private security companies to support the Russian invasion. In December, the US authorities recognized him as an agent of the Russian FSB.