Oksana Marchenko, whose husband Viktor Medvedchuk is Russian President Vladimir Putin's main ally in Ukraine, has pleaded with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to immediately release him from captivity.
Oksana Marchenko, a former television star who hosted X-Factor Ukraine, first posted a direct appeal on Wednesday, the day after her husband, longtime Putin pal Viktor Medvedchuk, was held in Kyiv for treason, reported the New York Post newspaper.
In a video, she appealed to Zelenskyy, saying, 'President Zelenskyy, I ask you to take all necessary actions for the immediate release of my husband.'
Medvedchuk, who was listed by Forbes magazine last year as Ukraine's 12th richest person, worth $620 million, was put under house arrest last May, charged with 'high treason'.
According to Ukrainian police, he fled house arrest a few days after Putin invaded Ukraine at the end of February.
On Tuesday, Zelenskyy announced Medvedchuk's arrest, showing him downcast and in cuffs, sparking widespread celebrations.
'There is no doubt that my husband is being persecuted for political reasons, contrary to the laws of Ukraine and international law,' Marchenko insisted of the 67-year-old oligarch and former leader of a pro-Russian political party.
In yet another appeal on Friday, she pleaded for her husband's release and called him a 'political prisoner'.
At a press conference in Moscow, Marchenko, without offering proof, said, 'I have no doubt that my husband was beaten within hours after his capture.'
'I call for help to stop the physical and mental torture,' she said.
She said she had 'unfortunately' not heard from Zelenskyy and conceded that she was not expecting to, either.
'He doesn't answer such questions, he is his own law,' Marchenko added, according to Russia's TASS news agency, the New York Post reported.
