The Czech civilian counterintelligence service, the Security Information Service (BIS), has uncovered an organized Russian network that had attempted to influence the European Parliament elections. According to Czech media, this now exposed network sought to influence politicians of six countries: Poland, Hungary, Germany, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, PAP reports.

BIS reported that it successfully detected and mapped the actions of a Russia-funded influence network operating in the Czech Republic. “The BIS operation revealed how Russia exerts influence on the territory of the European Union and tries to influence political processes in our countries,” wrote the service on its official X network profile.
Prime Minister Petr Fiala stated after a government meeting attended by BIS chief Michal Koudelka that, upon receiving information from the agencies, the government decided to include two individuals and one company on the Czech sanctions list. Fiala did not provide further details on the matter.
Czech sanctions were imposed on Viktor Medvedchuk and Artem Marchevsky - Ukrainian entrepreneurs and politicians closely associated with the Kremlin. Sanctions also targeted the company Voice of Europe, registered in the Czech Republic under a Polish citizen, utilized by Medvedchuk.

According to the Czech authorities, Medvedchuk is managing an operation from Russia to spread Russian influence on the territory of the Czech Republic. Thus, the former Ukrainian oligarch used Marchevsky to finance cooperation with journalists and covert support for selected candidates in the elections to the European Parliament (EP). Medvedchuk and Marchevsky are prohibited from entering the country and from any financial transactions. In addition, the FIU will freeze any assets that the sanctioned persons may have in the Czech Republic.

Further details were not disclosed. The listing was justified by “promoting the interests of the foreign policy of the Russian Federation and political and propaganda activities aimed against the territorial integrity, independence, stability, and security of Ukraine.”
Editors of the Denik N portal, who reached sources familiar with the matter, wrote that money was transferred to anti-establishment politicians of the German AfD party in Prague.
Payments were also reportedly made to politicians from other European countries. Without providing further details, sources stated that apart from Germany, the countries included France, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Hungary.
The sanctioned company’s assets were frozen, and it is prohibited from transferring any assets abroad. However, its activities in the Czech Republic have not been formally banned.

CEETV reminds that on September 21, 2022, Viktor Medvedchuk, suspected of treason in Ukraine, was exchanged for 215 Ukrainian military and civilian prisoners, including defenders of Azovstal. Medvedchuk remained under house arrest until February 24, but on the day of the full-scale invasion, he fled his estate in Kyiv and hid in the capital. On April 12, the SBU managed to find and detain Medvedchuk.

On January 10, 2023, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi signed a decree to strip Medvedchuk of his citizenship, and on January 13, the Verkhovna Rada stripped him of his parliamentary mandate.