Russia Issues Arrest Warrant for Ex-Gazprombank VP Who Joined Ukrainian Army

Russia’s Interior Ministry has issued an arrest warrant for the former vice president of the state-owned Gazprombank, who joined the Ukrainian army after Moscow's invasion, the state-run TASS news agency reported Friday.

Igor Volobuyev was born in northeastern Ukraine in 1971 but lived most of his life in Moscow, where he served as chief spokesman for the energy giant Gazprom in 2000-16, and then later, as vice president for industrial asset development at Gazprombank until 2022.

Volobuyev fled to Ukraine after Moscow’s invasion in February 2022 and announced that summer he was joining the Freedom of Russia Legion to help make Russia “a free democratic country.”

In August, Volobuyev said he was awarded the Golden Cross by the Ukrainian military for “successfully completing combat missions.”

The Russian Interior Ministry’s online database of wanted persons does not specify which crime Volobuyev has been charged with.

Russia’s Justice Ministry in October designated Volobuyev a “foreign agent.”