Russia issues arrest warrant for Volodymyr Zelenskyy

(Patria) - The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has opened a "criminal case" against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and placed him on its "wanted list," Russian state media reported today.

The specific charges have not been specified, nor has it been stated since when Zelenskyy has been on the wanted list, according to Current Time, a Russian-language media project run by RFE in cooperation with Voice of America (VOA).

Nor have Russian officials commented on why Zelenskyy was placed on the wanted list.

It was also announced that Russia is also looking for former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

Zelenskyy said last year that he knew that at least "five or six" assassination attempts against him had been thwarted.

The day after sending troops into Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an address to the nation, called on the Ukrainian army to overthrow Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy, who is leading Ukraine while the country is under Russian invasion that began in February 2022, has joined the list of foreign officials for whom Russia has issued arrest warrants, including many leaders from Central and Eastern Europe.

In February, Russian police issued an arrest warrant for Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Lithuanian Minister of Culture, and members of the previous convocation of the Latvian parliament for destroying Soviet-era monuments in those countries.

Russia has also issued an arrest warrant for the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), who last year prepared an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin on charges of war crimes.

The International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March 2023 due to charges related to the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, which is a war crime under international law.