The activities of a pro-Russian party led by a close ally of Vladimir Putin were banned by a Ukrainian court, the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice announced.

The ministry acted on a law passed by parliament last month, which enabled the courts to seek a ban on the activities of parties whose activities are considered a threat to Ukraine.

The statement said that the court in the western city of Lviv had decided to return all the property of Viktor Medvedchuk, a wealthy businessman accused of treason and leader of the opposition "Platform for Life" opposition party, to state property. , Telegrafi reports.

It was Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council that recommended that these restrictions be imposed on Medvedchuk's party, which was also the second largest party in the Ukrainian parliament.

It was this party that opposed a decision of the parliament, a decision that described Russia as an aggressor state, after the annexation of the Crimean region by official Moscow, and were also supporters of the separatists in eastern Ukraine, who were supported by Russia.

It was the party's politicians who favored a return to European integration over the Kremlin.

Medvedchuk, a close friend of Vladimir Putin, was captured by Ukrainian forces earlier in the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky did not say where and how Medvedchuk was captured, but he said he wanted to offer it to Russia in exchange for Ukrainian prisoners.