“I propose to the Russian Federation to exchange this guy of yours for our boys and our girls who are now in Russian captivity,” Zelensky said in a video address posted on Telegram.

Ukrainian authorities on Tuesday announced they had captured a prominent pro-Kremlin tycoon who escaped from house arrest after Russia’s invasion.

Zelensky posted a picture online of a disheveled-looking Medvedchuk with his hands in cuffs and dressed in a Ukrainian army uniform.

“A special operation was carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine. Well done!” Zelensky wrote on Telegram.

Security agency chief Ivan Bakanov said agents had carried out a “lightning-fast and dangerous multi-level special operation to detain” the Russia-friendly lawmaker.

Medvedchuk, one of the richest people in Ukraine, is a hugely controversial figure for his close ties to Moscow.

The 67-year-old business tycoon counts Russian President Vladimir Putin among his personal friends and says the Kremlin leader is godfather to his youngest daughter Darya.

He was being held under house arrest since last year on treason charges over accusations of attempting to steal natural resources from Russia-annexed Crimea and of handing Ukrainian military secrets to Moscow.