Three people with ties to the Netherlands on Russia’s wanted persons list

Three people with ties to the Netherlands are on the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs’ wanted list, according to research by the Russian research platform Mediazone. A 31-year-old Dutch woman is listed as a foreigner in the Ukrainian army - Russia suspects her of joining the International Legion and fighting for Ukraine. The list also includes a 76-year-old Dutchman and an Armenian man in his twenties born in Alkmaar, Noord-Holland.

Other Europeans on the list include Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and Secretary of State Taimar Peterkop, several Latvian Ministers and 67 Latvian parliamentarians, and two mayors of Ukraine. Piotr Hofmański, the President of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is also on the wanted list.

Nearly 97,000 people were on the wanted list at the beginning of February, according to Mediazone. Almost all (98 percent) come from Russia or countries that used to belong to the former Soviet Union. Russians are most represented at 31,484 on the wanted list, followed by Armenians (11,242) and Uzbeks (10,473). There are also 3,835 Ukrainians on the list.

Mediazone pointed out that the database does not list why people are wanted, so it is challenging to distinguish between people wanted for political reasons and those wanted for other reasons. The research platform did note that 396 people are listed as “foreigners in the Ukrainian army.” The Dutch woman is on that list.

The researchers speculate that Prime Minister Kallas is on the list because she openly expressed support for demolishing Soviet monuments in Estonia in 2022. Her Foreign Affairs State Secretary Peterkop is likely on the list for the same reason.

Latvia also removed Soviet monuments, which is likely why its Ministers of Agriculture, Finance, and Justice and 67 parliamentarians are wanted. The Lithuanian Minister of Culture is also on the list, likely for the same reason.

Piotr Hofmański is probably on the list because the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his administration's commissioner for children's rights, Maria Alexeyevna Lvova-Belova, for abducting Ukrainian children.