According to the SBU, the man was part of a Russian intelligence network coordinated by Serhii Stepanov, editor-in-chief of the website PolitNavigator. At the start of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine in 2022, the SBU identified the network as one working on behalf of the aggressor.
The SBU stated that in 2022, law enforcement detained two members of the intelligence network, while Stepanov was charged in absentia. Stepanov is currently hiding in occupied Crimea.
According to Ukrainska Pravda, the man in question is Serhiy Belashko.
On Feb. 24, 2022, Belashko "went underground" and attempted to evade justice by moving between various locations in Ukraine.
The "political expert" has been charged with high treason and inciting religious enmity (over his defense of the Russian Orthodox Church).
Medvedchuk was Ukraine’s most avidly pro-Russian politician
and is a close friend and associate of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.