The addition of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the Kremlin’s “wanted list” shows “the desperation of the Russian state machine and propaganda,” Ukraine’s ministry of foreign affairs wrote in a statement Saturday.
The list is an online database of those the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs accuses of being criminals. Russia reportedly said the Ukrainian leader was wanted “under an article of the criminal code” but did not provide further details.
Moscow has sought to assassinate the Ukrainian president since the beginning of its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022, when Russian President Vladimir Putin called on the Ukrainian army to overthrow Zelenskyy.
In February Moscow added Estonia Prime Minister Kaja Kallas to its wanted list for “desecration of historical memory and hostility towards Russia.”
In its statement, the Ukraine ministry said that Moscow is “at a loss for what else to invent to garner attention.” It also stressed that “unlike the worthless Russian announcements, the International Criminal Court’s warrant for the arrest of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on war crimes charges is real and enforceable in 123 countries.”