Russia’s Desperate Attempt to Arrest Ukraine’s President: Critics Condemn Kremlin’s Targeting of Officials

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry has criticized the Russian Interior Ministry’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for President Volodymyr Zelensky as an act of desperation by Russia’s state propaganda machine. The ministry highlighted the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin for crimes in Ukraine, calling attention to the seriousness of the ICC’s actions compared to Russia’s announcements.

In response, Ukraine has condemned the targeting of its officials by Russia and emphasized that it remains focused on legal actions taken against Putin by the ICC. The ministry called attention to the gravity of the charges against Putin in contrast to the warrant issued for Zelensky, who was born in 1978 in Krivoi Rog, Dnipropetrovsk region in Ukraine.

The Russian Interior Ministry has not provided any details about why Zelensky was included on a list of Ukrainian government officials wanted under an unspecified article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. However, it is part of an ongoing trend by Russian authorities to target officials from Ukraine in relation to the Ukrainian war. In addition to Zelensky, former president Petro Poroshenko and Ground Forces commander Alexander Pavlyuk have also been included on the list.