The Russian Interior Ministry has added the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, to their list of people under a search and arrest warrant. Zelensky, born in 1978 in Krivoi Rog, Dnipropetrovsk region in Ukraine, is wanted under an unspecified article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation according to Interfax. This move by Russian authorities follows a pattern of targeting officials of the Ukrainian government since the start of the Ukrainian war.
In addition to Zelensky, Alexander Litvinenko, head of the National Security and Defense Council, and former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko have also been included on the list. According to sources, these individuals are being targeted due to their positions and actions during their respective mandates that were deemed contrary to Russian interests.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has condemned Zelensky’s inclusion on the list as an act of desperation by Russia’s propaganda machine. They point out that there is a legitimate and more serious legal action against Russian President Vladimir Putin by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which accuses him of kidnapping and deporting children from Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine.
As tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalate on the international stage, each side is using legal and political tactics to assert their interests and opinions. It remains uncertain how these developments will impact already strained relations between the two neighboring countries.