Russian authorities have announced they are searching for Oleksandr Pavliuk, the Commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, according to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti citing the Russian Interior Ministry’s database. 

Earlier today, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and former Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko appeared in Russia’s wanted database.

However, like in the cases of Zelenskyy and Poroshenko, the criminal charges against Pavliuk remain unspecified.

Notably, the wanted poster published by Russian agencies depicts Pavliuk wearing an outdated Ukrainian military uniform that has not been used in years.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced these actions as desperate attempts by the Russian state propaganda machine to draw attention, noting the absurdity of the situation given that last year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over the forced deportation of Ukrainian children, leading Russia to declare wanted the ICC judge who signed Putin’s warrant.

Prior to this, Russia had also declared wanted several other high-ranking Ukrainian officials, including former Finance Minister Oleksandr Shlapak, former National Bank head Stepan Kubiv, and National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksandr Lytvynenko. In May 2023, the then-Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, and the then-Commander of the Ground Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, were added to Russia’s wanted list.

Furthermore, in December 2023 and March 2024, Russia announced searches for the heads of the Ukrainian intelligence agency, Kyrylo Budanov, and the Security Service, Vasyl Malyuk, respectively.

Read more:

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• ICC issues arrest warrant for Putin over war crimes
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• Armenia ratifies Rome Statute, gains power to arrest Putin on its soil
• International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for high-ranking Russian military officials