The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 17, 2023, accusing him of the war crime of unlawfully deporting children from Ukraine.
Unlawful deportation
The court also issued a warrant for Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights. Both are suspected of responsibility for the unlawful deportation and unlawful transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia, RFE/RL reported.
The ICC has 123 member states, which are obliged to arrest Putin and transfer him to The Hague if he sets foot on their territory. The court has no police force of its own and relies on member states to enforce its warrants. ICC President Piotr Hofmański said enforcement depended on international cooperation.
“Null and void”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the court’s actions “outrageous and unacceptable” and said its decisions were “null and void for the Russian Federation from the point of view of law.” Russia does not recognise the ICC’s jurisdiction, and Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the warrant “meaningless.” Moscow has repeatedly denied that its forces have committed atrocities in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it “a historic decision from which historical responsibility will begin.”
First for a permanent UN Security Council member
It is the first time the ICC has issued an arrest warrant for the leader of one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. Neither Russia nor Ukraine is a member of the court, but Ukraine has accepted its jurisdiction over crimes committed on its territory.
Sources
Image note: The featured image was generated by AI based on the content of this article. It is an illustration, not an actual photograph of the people, places or events described.
