Russia has officially added the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to its wanted list, indicating their desire to apprehend him.

According to the state news agency TASS, the Russian Interior Ministry database listed Zelenskyy as wanted, but no additional information was provided.

This was as Russia opened a criminal case against Zelenskyy.

Responding, Ukraine dismissed the report which it described as evidence of Moscow’s “desperation”.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said Russian President Vladimir Putin was himself subject to arrest under an International Criminal Court warrant.

The statement said: “We would like to remind you that unlike the worthless Russian announcements, an International Criminal Court warrant for the arrest of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on suspicion of war crimes is quite real, and subject to implementation in 123 countries.”

According to the ministry, the Russian announcement was “evidence of the desperation of the Russian state machine and propaganda, which can think of no other way to attract attention”.

In February 2022, Russia had issued arrest warrants for a number of Ukrainian and other European politicians.

Russian police in February put Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Lithuania’s culture minister and members of the previous Latvian parliament on a wanted list for destroying Soviet-era monuments.