Artem Marchevsky (source: Facebook/Opposition Platform-For Life)
The Slovak authorities are helping a Ukrainian who has allegedly collaborated with the Kremlin to remain in the European Union, according to a Czech media report.
Pro-Russian Ukrainian politician and entrepreneur Artem Marchevsky was placed on the Czech sanctions list in March this year. Soon after, he decided to relocate to Slovakia, where he is said to have been granted temporary protection.
Slovak Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok said he had no information on the case, as reported by Denník N. The Interior Ministry nevertheless confirmed that it has been handling the case, in cooperation with the Slovak Information Service (SIS), Slovakia's main domestic and foreign intelligence agency, for some time.
“We will give more information once the investigation is closed,” the ministry said.
Bribery allegations
The Czech authorities placed him on the country's sanctions list and planned to strip him of his refugee status, which he obtained shortly after arriving in the Czech Republic following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, because of his alleged attempts to influence and bribe politicians in several European countries.
According to the Czech intelligence services, pro-Russian Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk, along with Marchevsky, ran the Prague-based Voice of Europe website for this purpose. The pro-Russian platform has hosted interviews with several Slovak politicians, including pro-Russian ex-prime minister Ján Čarnogurský, far-right MEP Milan Uhrík, and Smer MP Erik Kaliňák, chief adviser to Prime Minister Robert Fico.
If Marchevsky, as alleged, enjoys protection in Slovakia, it is now up to the Slovak authorities whether to cancel his refugee status. That would make his stay in the EU illegal, since he would lose his residence permit.
Alleged cooperation with the Kremlin
According to Czech media, Marchevsky fled Ukraine not because of the war, but because he was allegedly collaborating with Putin’s regime and an investigation had been launched in Ukraine into his activities there. Marchevsky was a member of the now-banned pro-Russian party, Opposition Platform-For Life. A court dissolved it in 2022.
Medvedchuk is now resident in Moscow. He was arrested after going on the run shortly after the start of the war but was exchanged in August 2022 in return for more than 200 Ukrainian soldiers captured by Russia following the fall of Mariupol. He is reportedly close to the Russian leadership; President Vladimir Putin is godfather to Medvedchuk's daughter.
