Russia has opened a criminal case against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, placing him on a wanted list.
The state news agency TASS made the report on Saturday, May 5, an announcement Ukraine dismissed as evidence of Moscow’s “desperation.”
According to TASS, the Russian Interior Ministry database showed Zelenskiy was on a wanted list but gave no further details.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry in a statement said Russian President Vladimir Putin is also subject to arrest under an International Criminal Court warrant.
“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,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Russia has issued arrest warrants for several Ukrainian and other European politicians since the start of the conflict with Ukraine in February 2022.
The country’s 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.
They also issued an arrest warrant for the International Criminal Court prosecutor who last year prepared Putin’s war crimes warrant.
