The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation officially announced the start of the search for the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valeriy Zaluzhny. Information about this appeared in an open departmental database of wanted persons.

However, the official document does not specify under which article of the Criminal Code Zaluzhny is supposed to be held accountable. Additionally, a search was announced for the commander of the Ground Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrsky. The article on which Syrsky is being searched for is also not specified.

It is worth noting that this is not the first time that the Russian authorities put Ukrainian military leaders on the wanted list. Earlier, in April of this year, the commander of the Naval Forces of Ukraine, Oleksiy Neizhpapa, was included in the wanted list. The Lefortovo Court of Moscow, moreover, ruled in absentia on the arrest of the head of the military intelligence of Ukraine, Kirill Budanov, who is accused of organizing terrorist acts in Russia.

According to information received from a representative of the Russian law enforcement agencies, Valery Zaluzhny was seriously injured in early May as a result of rocket fire at a command post near the village of Posad-Pokrovskoye, Kherson region. It is noted that Zaluzhny underwent brain surgery and, according to the source, the commander-in-chief will not be able to continue his service. After the incident, Zaluzhny disappeared from public view, raising questions about his condition and whereabouts, especially after he did not take part, even via video link, in a meeting of the NATO Military Committee at the level of chiefs of general staff.

Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation Sergei Naryshkin confirmed that Moscow receives information about the state of health of Zaluzhny, but stressed that there is no complete certainty in its reliability.