The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has announced that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is wanted on criminal charges, without specifying the exact charges. This was revealed through a wanted record screenshot published by the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.
In response, Serhiy Nykyforov, the spokesman for the Ukrainian president, advised the Russian authorities to "first look for common sense."
Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko faces similar charges.
Prior to this, Russia had also declared wanted several other high-ranking Ukrainian officials, including former Finance Minister Oleksandr Shlapak, former National Bank head Stepan Kubiv, and National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksandr Lytvynenko. In May 2023, the then-Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, and the then-Commander of the Ground Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, were added to Russia's wanted list.
Furthermore, in December 2023and March 2024, Russia announced searches for the heads of the Ukrainian intelligence agency, Kyrylo Budanov, and the Security Service, Vasyl Malyuk, respectively.
Notably, last year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over the forced deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia. In retaliation, Russian authorities declared wanted the ICC judge who signed Putin's arrest warrant.
Read more:
- ICC issues arrest warrant for Putin over war crimes
- Putin will not attend BRICS summit to avoid ICC arrest warrant
- Armenia ratifies Rome Statute, gains power to arrest Putin on its soil
- International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for high-ranking Russian military officials
