“According to a report from AFP ( a news agency), Russia has formally added Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to its list of wanted individuals. Kyiv promptly brushed off the move as a sign of Moscow’s desperation. Zelensky’s name was reportedly found on the Russian interior ministry’s online platform for identifying alleged offenders on Saturday.”
As per the AFP report, the Ukrainian leader is being pursued “under a specific article of the criminal code,” although exact details regarding the allegation have not been revealed.
As of now, Russian authorities have not released any immediate statement explaining the reasons behind Zelensky’s addition to the list.
According to the AFP report, Ukraine’s foreign ministry characterized the decision as a sign of “the desperation of the Russian state machinery and propaganda, which are struggling to come up with new tactics to attract attention.”
This recent action is just one more step in Moscow’s ongoing focus on Zelensky, which started with Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine back in February 2022.
Before, Zelensky openly admitted that “five or six” assassination attempts against him had been foiled in the past year.
Following the deployment of troops into Ukrainian territory, Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a televised address, urged the Ukrainian military to take steps to remove Zelensky from office.
It’s worth mentioning that Russia has a track record of adding foreign political figures and individuals to its wanted list, which contains tens of thousands of entries.
Accompanying Zelensky on the list were Oleksandr Pavliuk, the commander of Ukraine’s Land Forces, and former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko.
Similarly, Moscow had previously pursued Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, accusing her of being involved in what the Kremlin termed the “desecration of historical memory” because of Estonia’s removal of Soviet-era monuments.
In the past year, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin on accusations of war crimes linked to the abduction of Ukrainian children, claims vehemently rejected by Russian authorities.
