This is a big deal. A potential game changer, though I’m not yet sure how. The oligarchs are hugely influential, and the narrative of this conflict has largely been ignoring them.

Industrialist Dmytro Firtash, one of Ukraine’s most influential oligarchs with close links to Russia through his gas interests, has been arrested in Austria at the request of the United States.

Austria’s Federal Crime Agency said on Thursday that Firtash was held on Wednesday on suspicion of violating laws on bribery and forming a criminal organization in the course of foreign business deals.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said: “Our embassy in Austria has confirmed that Dmytro Firtash has been detained at the request of the (U.S.) Federal Bureau of Investigation. He is now being held in a detention center.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/13/us-ukraine-austria-firtash-idUSBREA2C14V20140313