According to Justice Department spokesperson Anthony Coley, US Attorney General Merrick Garland has joined justice ministers from many allied countries in demanding that Interpol immediately halt Russia‘s access to its networks.

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Coley tweeted on Sunday night that Garland, along with other justice ministers from the Five Country Ministerial — the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand — urged Interpol and its executive committee “to decide this week on the immediate suspension of Russia’s access to its systems.”

Priti Patel, the British Home Secretary, tweeted on Sunday night, “Russia’s actions are a direct threat to the safety of individuals and to international law enforcement cooperation.”

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Interpol, which stands for the International Criminal Police Organization, is a global organisation that allows police officers from its 195 member countries to coordinate on criminal investigations. Interpol sends Red Notices to request the location and arrest of an individual awaiting extradition.

If Russia is suspended from Interpol, it will be unable to join and  submit requests for Red Notices, but it will not be able to remove Red Notices that are already in the system, according to Ted Bromund, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation and an Interpol expert.

According to attorneys and analysts, Russia is one of a few countries that are considered as system abusers for going after government opponents.

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Bromund added that the notices will typically be based on financial offences. “Generally, (Russia) uses it to harass opposition figures, but these could be businessmen who the regime wants to steal their money, it could be theatre directors who have a rep for producing politically touchy material… Opposition figures covers a lot of ground.”

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, more than a million Ukrainians have fled to Poland, with 142,300 arriving on Sunday alone. The Polish government has stated that it will establish an 8 billion zloty ($1.75 billion) fund to assist war refugees.