The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Russia’s children’s commissioner.
Teemu Juhola,
Sampo Vaarakallio
18:43•Updated 19:20
The Hague’s International Criminal Court ICC has issued the Russian president About Vladimir Putin international arrest warrant.
The criminal court accuses Putin of being responsible for war crimes committed in the Ukraine war. The arrest warrant concerns Russian abductions of children from Ukraine and forced relocation of adults to Russian territory.
The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Russia’s children’s commissioner Marija from Lvova-Belova on the same charges.
Read about child abductions in Russia here.
State Prosecutor of Ukraine Andriy Kostin hailed the historic ICC decision with joy. Chief of Staff of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak said the arrest warrant was just the beginning.
Spokesman of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova said the ICC decision is “meaningless”. He stated that Russia is not a member of the ICC and is not affected by the court’s orders. The Kremlin repeated the same a little later.
Former President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev in turn called the arrest warrant toilet paper.
ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan opened an investigation into Russian war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide a year ago. He said the arrest warrant for Putin is the first concrete step in the ICC’s investigation into war crimes in Ukraine.
Khan said today that his investigators have discovered the abduction of hundreds of children from orphanages in Ukraine. According to Khan, many of the kidnapped children have been given up for adoption in Russia.
Reuters