A member of Ukraine’s unicameral parliament Verkhovna Rada, Evgeny Shevchenko, on Nov. 14, called on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to “begin dialogue” with Russia. “I understand that you will have to go after that. But the country is more important than personal ambitions.” He also offered to travel to Belarus and help mediate the process. The MP warned the Ukrainian leader that if he refuses to negotiate, “you will be forced to go … by those who applauded you yesterday in Western countries.”
That same day, Ukraine’s secret police SBU charged him with treason for “systematically” spreading pro-Russian narratives. On Nov. 15, a Kiev court placed him custody for two months, saying that Shevchenko’s postings are “harming Ukraine’s defense capabilities and information security.”
