By Abiola Olawale
The Russian government has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, spiking concerns amidst the current conflict between the two nations.
Also, Zelenskyy’s predecessor, Petro Poroshenko, featured on Russia’s list of people wanted on unspecified criminal charges. The commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, Gen. Oleksandr Pavlyuk, has also been placed on the wanted list.
The wanted list was placed on the official database of Russia’s Ministry of Interior. However, the ministry failed to clarify the allegations against any of the men.
The New Diplomat reports that Russia had been issuing arrest warrants for several Ukrainian and other European politicians since the start of the conflict with Ukraine in February 2022.
It would be recalled also that Russian police in February put Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Lithuania’s culture minister, and members of the previous Latvian parliament on a wanted list for destroying Soviet-era monuments.
Russia also issued an arrest warrant for the International Criminal Court prosecutor who last year prepared Putin’s war crimes warrant.
In its response, Ukraine dismissed the action of Russia, describing it as evidence of Moscow’s “desperation”.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said Russian President Vladimir Putin was himself subject to arrest under an International Criminal Court warrant.
The statement said: “We would like to remind you that, unlike the worthless Russian announcements, an International Criminal Court warrant for the arrest of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on suspicion of war crimes is quite real and subject to implementation in 123 countries.”
According to the ministry, the Russian announcement was “evidence of the desperation of the Russian state machine and propaganda, which can think of no other way to attract attention”.
