The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of being responsible for alleged war crimes in Ukraine. The Kremlin has dismissed the move, calling it “void” and “nonsense.” If he travels to any member state of the body, Putin could be arrested and sent to The Hague.
The decision came just a day after a UN-mandated investigative body accused Russia of commit far-reaching war crimes in Ukraineincluding intentional killings and tortureas well as the alleged illegal deportation of Ukrainian children in disputed areas that were occupied by the Russian Federation.
The Moscow government has repeatedly denied accusations of wartime atrocities, with a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry saying the ICC order “had no meaning.”
Putin’s spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, recalled that his country does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC and, therefore, “the decisions of that court are null and void.”
Although Putin is unlikely to appear in court anytime soon, the arrest warrant means he could be arrested and sent to The Hague if he travels to any ICC member state.
Ukraine praises arrest warrant
The Ukrainian government greeted the news with a warning tone, with senior Ukrainian officials calling it “historic for Ukraine and the entire system of international law.”
The ICC order also included a Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights in Russia, Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova. According to the ICC statement, Putin is “allegedly responsible for the war crime of illegal deportation of the population” and the “illegal transfer of population from the occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation”.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan declared this month after a visit to Ukraine that alleged child abductions were the subject of “a priority investigation”.
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