Over three years, 151 law offenders were extradited to Ukraine with National Police involvement

Since 24 February 2022, the Department of International Police Cooperation of the National Police, acting on requests from the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Ministry of Justice, has extradited 151 individuals to Ukraine. These individuals had been placed on the wanted list for suspicion or charges of criminal offences, or were sought to serve sentences following court rulings.

Source: response to a request from Ukrainska Pravda regarding the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ announcement of individuals placed on the international wanted list; a representative of the department in a comment to UP

Quote from the response: "Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the department has organised and carried out 151 transfers of individuals for whom authorised (central) bodies of foreign states have decided on extradition to Ukraine."

Details: The department told UP that the 151 individuals were listed in the Interpol’s General Secretariat database under a red notice or diffusion. 

For reference: A red notice differs from a diffusion in that it is disseminated to all countries cooperating with Interpol, while a diffusion allows restrictions so that certain countries do not see that an individual is subject to a red notice.

There are nine types of Interpol notices. Red notices pertain to individuals wanted for suspicion, charges, or convictions for criminal offences, with the aim of their arrest, detention, restriction of movement and subsequent extradition. Blue notices are of interest to Ukrainian law enforcement in criminal proceedings or operational investigations, covering suspects, witnesses and victims. Yellow notices concern locating missing persons or identifying individuals unable to provide information about themselves.

Only a red notice allows for the extradition of an individual to the requesting country.

Details: The response to the request states that since the start of the full-scale invasion, Ukrainian law enforcement agencies have submitted requests to the department, resulting in the publication of 954 red notices and diffusions, 79 blue notices and diffusions, and 796 yellow notices and diffusions in Interpol’s General Secretariat database. The department explained to UP that publishing a notice or diffusion does not always mean a person is declared internationally wanted.

As of 26 March, Interpol’s database, based on Ukrainian law enforcement requests, contains 1,037 active red notices and diffusions, 90 blue notices, and 923 yellow notices. 

The department explained to UP that the publication of a notice or diffusion does not always mean that an individual has been declared internationally wanted.

As of 26 March, 1,037 red notices and diffusions, 90 blue notices, and 923 yellow notices are being processed in Interpol’s General Secretariat database, based on requests from Ukrainian law enforcement.

The department said that these are the active notices at present, as some requests may be removed when a person is extradited or found, while new ones may be added when there is a request to search for an individual within a new criminal case.

Background:

• On 19 March, it was reported that developer Anatolii Voitsekhovskyi, who had defrauded investors in 42 Kyiv construction projects and fled abroad, was extradited to Ukraine.
• It was also reported that Ukrainska Pravda managed to find 15 people abroad who are wanted by Ukrainian law enforcement on suspicion of committing crimes.

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