Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said on May 4 that Russia’s placing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the wanted list was “a sign of desperation”.
The reaction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine came immediately after the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs placed Mr. Zelensky on the wanted list “according to an article of the Russian criminal code” but did not specify what the crime was.
According to The Kyiv Independent, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow’s move shows “the desperation of the Russian state apparatus and propaganda activities, which do not know what else to create to attract attention.” idea”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a press conference in Vilnius, Lithuania. Photo: NurPhoto
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry stated: “We want to remind everyone that unlike Russia’s worthless announcements, the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) order on the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin is valid. real and enforceable in 123 countries”.
The Ukrainian side mentioned that in March 2023, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Putin on charges of forcibly deporting thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia.
The ICC also issued arrest warrants for two Russian military commanders a year later in March. Two Russian military commanders, Mr. Sergei Kobylash and Mr. Viktor Sokolov, were held by the ICC to be responsible for the attacks. Russian missiles target Ukraine’s electrical infrastructure from at least October 10, 2022 to March 9, 2023.
The Kyiv Independent newspaper reported that in the latest announcement, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs also put former President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and Commander of the Ukrainian Army Oleksandr Pavliuk on the wanted list.
Russia has issued arrest orders for many Ukrainian and European politicians since launching its military campaign in Ukraine in February 2022.
In February this year, Russia issued an arrest warrant for Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Lithuanian Minister of Culture Simonas Kairys and members of the Latvian parliament on charges of vandalism of Soviet-era monuments.
Last year, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs announced the arrest of the head of the Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, General Kyrylo Budanov.
Regarding the President of Ukraine, the New York Post reported that Mr. Zelensky said that he himself was the target of at least five European assassination plots since Russia launched its military campaign in Ukraine in February 2022. After many times, Mr. Zelensky “only considered assassination threats as light as having COVID-19.”
