Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said that 27 former Ukrainian officials have been put on the international wanted list of Interpol.

"27 high-ranking officials have been put on the international wanted list… Interpol put them on the wanted list and noted that the arguments presented by the Ukrainian side, I mean the evidence, is sufficient to put them on the Interpol Red Notice list," he said in an interview with Ukrainian TV channels on Friday.

According to the president, the list includes former Interior Minister Vitalaliy Zakharchenko, ex-chief of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Oleksandr Yakymenko and other former officials who served under ex-president Viktor Yanukovych.

An Interpol notice is an international alert used by police to communicate information about crimes, criminals and threats to their counterparts around the world. They are circulated by Interpol to all member states at the request of a member or an authorized international entity.

There are seven types, color-coded by their function: red, blue, green, yellow, black, orange, and purple. The most well-known notice is the Red Notice which is the instrument to seek the location and arrest of a wanted person with a view to his/her extradition.