Overview
- Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova on Jan. 11 mocked Defence Secretary John Healey’s remark as the “wet dreams of British perverts.”
- Healey told reporters in Kyiv on Jan. 9 that, if he could, he would take Vladimir Putin into custody to answer for war crimes, citing Bucha and the reported abduction of Ukrainian children in Irpin.
- The comment was made during a visit to the site of a deadly Jan. 8–9 Russian strike in Kyiv that killed at least four people and injured 24, according to local reporting.
- Coverage linked Healey’s hypothetical to the recent U.S. operation that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, framing a broader debate about extraordinary measures.
- One outlet questioned whether the UK could execute such an operation, while noting Putin is already wanted by the International Criminal Court over the deportation of Ukrainian children.