The Russian Interior Ministry’s arrest warrant for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky which states that he is wanted over an unspecified violation of the Russian Criminal Code may be in response to what the Kremlin has described as Ukraine’s “terrorist” tactics according to Russian state-run media RT.
RT noted that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last month in the wake of a suspected Ukrainian attack on the Crimean bridge that threats made by Zelensky to destroy Russian infrastructure demonstrated the “terrorist” nature of Kyiv.
The ministry’s updated wanted list released on Tuesday also includes former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko who came to power following the Western-backed 2014 Euromaidan protests described by Moscow as a coup against Viktor Yanukovych although the charges against him have not been made public by the Kremlin.
Russia Puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on Its Wanted List https://t.co/oXXe2Y8oME
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The announcements come after multiple other former Ukrainian officials including former Finance Minister Aleksandr Shlapak former central bank chief Stepan Kubiv and the head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council Aleksandr Litvinenko face arrest warrants issued on Friday.
The move by Moscow is expected to further dampen prospects for a planned peace summit in Switzerland next month as neither side appears willing to compromise with Russia rejecting Ukraine’s demands to cede back occupied territory before negotiations begin and Ukraine arguing that freezing the conflict lines would only allow Russia to regroup for another future incursion.
The exact alleged offenses for which Zelensky and other former officials are wanted have not been published but the arrest warrants state that they are wanted over violations of the Russian Criminal Code.
