As the war between Russia and Ukraine rages on, Moscow has added Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to its "wanted criminals" list. This development comes after Russia opened a criminal investigation against Zelenskyy.
Citing the Russian Interior Ministry's database, news agency TASS has reported that the Ukrainian leader has been listed as a "wanted criminal" across the Russian Federation.
Since February 2022, Russia has issued several warrants against Ukrainian politicians and European leaders. However, the former Soviet state has now added the President's name to the list.
Earlier this year in February, February put Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Lithuania's culture minister and members of the previous Latvian parliament on its "wanted criminals" list after several Soviet era monuments were destroyed in the Baltic states.
Since the start of the war on February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for Zelenskyy's removal. After sending in Russian troops, Putin also delivered a message urging the Ukrainian army to overthrow Zelenskyy.
Along with this, the Ukrainian President has also stated that at least "five to six" assassination attempts have been made against him in 2023, all of which were foiled.
Despite all the warrants issued by Russia, the International Criminal Court in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant for Russian leader Putin.
Putin has been accused of war crimes and the abduction of Ukrainian children since the start of the war. The arrest warrant from ICC resulted in Putin reducing his global visits and skipping important international events such as the G20 2023 meet in India, BRICS Summit in South Africa and many more.
In response to the ICC's charge, Moscow has refuted all claims and issued an arrest warrant for the prosecutor who prepared the charges against Putin at the top UN court.
