The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has put Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky on the wanted list. The corresponding card appeared in the department’s database.
“Volodymyr Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, January 25, 1978. Wanted under article of the Criminal Code,” the website says.
The database indicates that the wanted man was born in the city of Kryvyi Rih, Dnepropetrovsk region, and his nationality is Ukrainian.
Chairman of the Federation Council Commission for the Protection of State Sovereignty and Prevention of Interference in the Internal Affairs of Russia Andrei Klimov, after Zelenskyy was put on the wanted list, said that his presidential immunity applies only in Ukraine. In addition, the very fact that the politician has immunity is “a big question”, since the presidential elections in Ukraine were not held on time due to hostilities.
“Diplomatic immunity is there when an ambassador comes to us or our ambassador goes there and he is presented with credentials. These letters are accepted by him, and he has diplomatic immunity. If he did something like that from the point of view of the host country, then the maximum that the host country can do is expel him,” the senator noted.
He added that we are not necessarily talking about the arrest of Zelenskyy, perhaps he is “just a wanted person”. At the same time, Klimov emphasized that “the process has been started.”
“Zelenskyy has immunity in the territory called Ukraine. And this immunity is associated with the position he holds. Since May, let’s say, the legality of holding this position has been in big question. There are no elections. The vampire ball ends,” he concluded.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs does not indicate under what specific article Zelenskyy is wanted. Earlier this week, the chairman of the Crimean Interethnic Mission, Zaur Smirnov, called for a case to be opened against the politician for organizing attacks on Crimea and “reviving Nazism in Ukraine”. And in January, the head of the Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption Vasily Piskarev admitted that Zelenskyy’s decree on Russian lands “historically inhabited by Ukrainians” falls under the provisions of an article of the Criminal Code.
In April 2022, the Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia, Aleksandr I. Bastrykin, ordered to verify the words Zelenskyy said in an interview with the BBC that Ukraine was preparing for a conflict with Russia and was trying to enlist the support of other countries in advance. “In it, Zelenskyy talks about Ukraine’s advance preparation for war with Russia and reaching specific agreements with allies on financial assistance, supplies of weapons and equipment,” the ICR stated.
The TFR did not give any comments about the results of the inspection.
The ex-president is wanted
In addition to Zelenskyy, the former President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko is also wanted under a criminal article, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs reported.
The card indicates his date and place of birth – September 26, 1965, city of Bolgrad, Odessa region of Ukraine. The article for which Poroshenko is wanted is also not disclosed.
After the current and former presidents of Ukraine, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation put two more Ukrainian leaders on the wanted list. This is the commander of the ground forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Alexander Pavlyuk and the former acting Minister of Defense of Ukraine, and the current rector of the National Defense University Mikhail Koval.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine commented on the announcement of Zelenskyy on the Russian wanted list. The department called the actions of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs “evidence of desperation” of the Russian leadership, which does not know “what other news reason to come up with to attract attention.”
Mutual searches
On May 3, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs put on the wanted list the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Alexander Litvinenko, the former head of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine Alexander Shlapak, and the ex-head of the National Bank of Ukraine Stepan Kubiva. The articles they were being searched for were also not named.
In addition, the former Minister of Justice of Ukraine Pavel Petrenko and the ex-head of the Security Service of Ukraine Valentina Nalyvaichenko (listed in Russia as terrorists and extremists) appeared in the Ministry of Internal Affairs database. At the end of April, deputies of the Verkhovna Rada Alexey Goncharenko (listed in the Russian Federation as terrorists and extremists) and Vladimir Parasyuk, as well as former First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Vitaly Yarema (listed in the Russian Federation as terrorists and extremists), were put on the wanted list.
The Ukrainian authorities also often put Russian politicians and officials on the wanted list. Thus, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation Maria Zakharova and Igor Konashenkov, Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu, Speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin, Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko, Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev, head of the Foreign Intelligence Service Sergei Naryshkin, head of the FSB Alexander Bortnikov, head Rosgvardia Viktor Zolotov, Minister of Internal Affairs Vladimir Kolokoltsev, former Minister of Communications Igor Shchegolev. Russian President Vladimir Putin is not listed as a wanted person in Ukrainian databases.
