O International Criminal Court, headquartered in The Hague, The Netherlands. plans to open two investigations against Russia for war crimes. The first two cases represent the first international accusations to be filed since the beginning of the conflict and come after months of work by special investigation teams.
The first complaint accuses Moscow of kidnapping Ukrainian children and teenagers to send them to foster homes, with the aim of becoming Russian citizens sent to re-education camps.
The second allegation concerns Russia’s relentless attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, including water and gas supplies and power plants, which are far from the fighting and are not considered legitimate military targets.
Karim Khan, the court’s chief prosecutor, is expected to present the charges to a panel of “pre-trial” judges, who will decide whether legal standards have been met for issuing arrest warrants or whether investigators need more evidence.
While the court did not say who the possible targets would be, some diplomats said it was possible President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia could be charged as the court does not recognize immunity for a head of state in cases involving crimes of war, crimes against humanity or genocide.
The Kremlin has denied the allegations of war crimes, but international and Ukrainian investigators have amassed strong evidence of a range of atrocities since the early days of the invasion.