Arrest warrants have been issued by judges at the International Criminal Court for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Commissioner for Children’s Rights.
In a statement, the ICC says they are suspected of the war crime of unlawfully deporting children, from Ukraine to Russia.
There are reasonable grounds to believe President Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for such deportations, the statement says, adding it is alleged to have taken place since he launched the full- scale invasion of Ukraine last February.
It says the same thing of his children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova.
Ukraine has responded, with presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak saying: “This is just the beginning.”
And Ukraine’s prosecutor general has called it a “historic” decision.
However, Russia has repeatedly denied accusations of atrocities during its invasion of Ukraine and has also said it does not recognise the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court and says it bears no obligations under it.
“The decisions of the International Criminal Court have no meaning for our country, including from a legal point of view,” spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on her Telegram channel.
“Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and bears no obligations under it. Russia does not cooperate with this body, and possible ‘recipes’ for arrest coming from the International Court will be legally null and void for us.”
(BBC News)
