Russia puts Ukraine’s Zelenskyy on wanted list

Russia has added Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to its list of wanted criminals, a government database showed on Saturday.

Zelenskyy appeared in the Russian interior ministry’s “wanted” list, an online database of alleged criminals sought by the authorities.

It stated that the Ukrainian leader was wanted “under an article of the criminal code,” without providing further details.

There was no immediate comment from Russian officials on why Zelenskyy had been added to the list.

Moscow has targeted Zelenskyy since the start of its military offensive in February 2022.

The Ukrainian president said last year he was aware of at least “five or six” assassination attempts against him had been foiled.

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

Russia has placed several foreign politicians and public figures on its wanted list, which has tens of thousands of entries.

In February, Moscow said it was seeking Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas for what the Kremlin said was the “desecration of historical memory” for the Baltic country’s move to destroy Soviet era monuments.

Last year the International Criminal Court (ICC) ordered the arrest of Putin on war crimes charges related to the abduction of Ukrainian children – accusations rejected by Moscow.