Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been added to the wanted persons database of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Russian agencies RIA Novosti and TASS reported. They announced that “a criminal case has been initiated against him.” The Ukrainian Ministry of Diplomacy talks about the “desperation of the Russian state machine and propaganda.”
As reported by the pro-Kremlin agency RIA Novosti, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation has placed Volodymyr Zelensky on the list of wanted persons pursuant to an article of the Criminal Code. However, it is not known what this article is.
Russian agencies published a screenshot from the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where, next to the name and photo of the president (from before Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine – as noted by the Ukraińska Pravda portal), there is, among other things, his date and place of birth, as well as information that he is Ukrainian.
Zelensky was put on Russia's wanted list on the 801st day of the armed invasion of Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelensky Dmytro Larin/Shutterstock
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kiev commented on the reports regarding President Zelensky's inclusion on the list of wanted criminals. “They testify to the desperation of the Russian state machine and propaganda, which does not know what more noteworthy pretext to come up with to attract attention.”
“We remind you that, contrary to the pathetic Russian announcements, the order of the International Criminal Court ordering the arrest of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on charges of committing war crimes is quite real and is enforceable in 123 countries around the world,” the statement added.
Arrest warrants for European politicians
Reuters recalled that since the outbreak of aggression, Russia has issued arrest warrants for many Ukrainian and European politicians.
Russian media reported earlier that the names of Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksandr Lytvynenko, and the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Kyryl Budanov, appeared in the database of wanted persons.
In February this year, Russian police placed Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Lithuanian Minister of Culture, as well as members of the previous Latvian parliament on the list of wanted people for “destroying Soviet-era monuments.”
Russia also issued an arrest warrant for an International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor last year arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin on charges of war crimes. The ICC judges then found Putin responsible for war crimes involving the unlawful deportation of children from the occupied territories of Ukraine to Russia.
TASS, RIA Novosti, Reuters, NV, Ukraińska Pravda
Main photo source: Dmytro Larin/Shutterstock