A Kiev court on Thursday placed Viktor Medvedchuk, a Kremlin-friendly lawmaker suspected of treason, under house arrest but he vowed to remain politically active. The 66-year-old business tycoon, who counts Russian President Vladimir Putin among his personal friends, is a hugely controversial figure in Ukraine for his ties to Moscow, which has backed separatists in a years-long conflict with Kiev. Ukrainian prosecutors this week said Medvedchuk and another pro-Moscow lawmaker, Taras Kozak, were "suspected of high treason and attempts to plunder national resources in the Ukrainian Crimea", annexed by Moscow in 2014. A Kiev court on Thursday evening rejected prosecutors' request for pre-trial detention for Medvedchuk, and instead ordered house arrest. "We will continue to fight," Medvedchuk said after the judge announced the decision. The lawmaker said he needed to make sure that the case against him was not "biased and politically motivated." The prosecutor general said this week that Medvedchuk had in 2015 planned to begin extracting natural resources off the Black Sea coast belonging to Ukraine and monopolised by Russia since the annexation of Crimea. He is also suspected of handing over information about a secret Ukrainian military unit to Russia in 2020. Ukraine has been fighting Russian-backed separatists in the eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions since 2014. The fighting has claimed more than 13,000 lives, according to the United Nations. Kiev and the West accuse Moscow of sending troops and arms across the border. The Kremlin has denied the charges. osh/as/bp