Zelensky strips Medvedchuk of citizenship over treason charge
A look back at the decision announced on 10 January 2023 to denaturalise a pro-Kremlin politician and three other people.
What did it mean when Ukraine's president removed a prominent pro-Kremlin politician's citizenship? On 11 January 2023, the day after the decision was reported, the move was the main domestic political story in Kyiv's wartime governance.
On 10 January 2023, President Volodymyr Zelensky deprived Viktor Medvedchuk of Ukrainian citizenship. Three other people were included in the decision. The grounds given were accusations of high treason. The step was reported as part of the wider government and intergovernmental responses to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
What the decision showed
The action rested on the treason accusation, which tied the loss of citizenship directly to the war. It placed the presidency at the centre of the decision, and it targeted a figure identified as a pro-Kremlin politician rather than a private individual with no political profile.
A parallel signal elsewhere
The same day brought a separate development in the region. Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that joint military exercises with Russian armed forces under the Collective Security Treaty Organization would be postponed that year. He cited the organization's refusal to condemn Azerbaijan in the disputes between the two countries.
The two items were unconnected in subject, yet both showed how the consequences of Russia's war and regional rivalries were shaping political decisions on 10 January 2023. In Kyiv, the focus was on punishing alleged treason; in Yerevan, on the limits of a security alliance.
