Russia wants high-ranking officials close to the President of Ukraine

(Dan Tri) – The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs announced the arrest of Deputy Chief of Staff of the President of Ukraine Roman Malovets.

The database of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs posted wanted information for Deputy Chief of Staff of the President of Ukraine Roman Mashovets (Photo: Ukrinform).

`Roman Vasilyevich Maslovets. Wanted under an article of the Russian Criminal Code,` the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs database said on May 19, but did not specify the wanted term.

In July 2023, the press office of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) reported that Mr. Mashovets was the coordinator of the General Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

According to Tass news agency (Russia), Mr. Mashovets is accused of coordinating a network of agents involved in plotting to assassinate officials of Crimea, a peninsula annexed to Russia in 2014.

Mr. Maslovets has held the position of Deputy Chief of Office of the President of Ukraine since 2020.

Since the conflict broke out in February 2022, Russia has placed many Ukrainian officials and former officials on the wanted list.

In April, Mr. Litvinenko announced the need to conduct drone attacks deep into Russian territory to put `pressure` on Moscow.

RIA Novosti newspaper reported on May 4 that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s name is on Russia’s wanted list `according to the provisions of the criminal code`, but Moscow did not provide detailed information.

Information about Mr. Zelensky posted on the website includes date of birth, photos taken before the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out, and some other information.

Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko was also placed on Russia’s wanted list.

Russia is said to have posted this wanted warrant since the beginning of this year, but it was only in April that Russian media discovered it.

However, on May 9, news site Mediazona said that the arrest warrants for the President and former President of Ukraine were no longer in the data on the homepage of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

After the incident was discovered, on May 6, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs said that putting the President and former President of Ukraine on the wanted list was a technical procedure and that it was a matter of putting someone or removing someone from the list.

Russia also placed Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and head of Ukraine’s military intelligence Kyrylo Budanov on its wanted list.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that these arrest warrants showed Russia’s `stalemate`.

Last March, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova on charges of `illegal deportation of children and illegal transfer of children`.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute establishing the ICC, so Moscow does not recognize the ICC’s arrest warrant.

Russia’s Investigative Committee announced it will open a criminal investigation into judges and prosecutors of the ICC, which can charge individuals with war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.