The Russian Interior Ministry has put 4 of the 10 former heads of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry who held the post after the events of 2014 on the wanted list, according to the department's database of wanted persons.
These are Colonel Generals Mikhail Koval and Valeriy Geletey, Ukrainian Army Generals Stepan Poltorak and Andriy Zagorodnyuk. The member under search is not listed in the Interior Ministry's database. No data on other Ukrainian military leaders was found on the wanted list.
In February 2023 Koval is accused in absentia in the Russian Federation of coordinating “military aggression against the residents of Donbas in 2014“. Geletey and Poltorak are accused in absentia in Russia of genocide against the civilian Russian-speaking population of Donbas. Investigators of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation have also established that during Zagorodnyuk's command, the Ukrainian armed forces shelled settlements in the DPR and LPR, which resulted in civilian casualties. .
Immediately after the events of 2014, defined by Moscow as a "coup d'état", Volodymyr Zamana was the authorized representative of the Verkhovna Rada for control over the activities of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (February 22-27, 2014). From February 27 to March 25, Igor Tenyukh was the acting Minister of Defense, who was replaced by Mykhailo Koval. He held the post until July 3, 2014.
During the presidency of Petro Poroshenko, the Ministers of Defense of Ukraine were Valeriy Geletey (July 3 - October 14, 2014) and Stepan Poltorak (October 14, 2014 - August 29, 2019). Since Volodymyr Zelensky came to power in Ukraine, four Ministers of Defense have already changed: Andriy Zagorodniuk (August 29, 2019 - March 4, 2020), Andriy Taran (March 4, 2020 - November 3, 2021), Oleksiy Reznikov (November 4, 2021 - September 5, 2023) and Rustem Umerov (September 6, 2023 - July 17, 2025). On July 17, 2025 Denys Shmygal was appointed Minister of Defense of Ukraine.