The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday (March 17) issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes because of his alleged involvement in the abduction and “unlawful deportation” of Ukrainian children.
The Hague-based ICC said it had also issued a warrant against Maria Lvova-Belova,
Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, on similar charges.
The statement issued by the court said that Putin “is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.”
Ukraine’s presidency welcomed the International Criminal Court’s decision and said that this was just an initial step in restoring justice.
“The Hague Chamber of the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin. This is just the beginning,” Ukraine’s presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak said on social media.
Ukraine’s chief prosecutor echoed the sentiment.
“The world received a signal that the Russian regime is criminal and its leadership and henchmen will be held accountable,” Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said in a statement on social media.
“This is a historic decision for Ukraine and the entire system of international law,” Kostin added.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the decision. “This is an historic decision which will lead to historic accountability. The head of the terrorist state and another official have officially become suspects in a war crimes case,” he said.
“In criminal cases that are being investigated by our law enforcement there are more than 16,000 instances of forcible deportation of Ukrainian children by occupiers. But the real, complete number of deported could be much larger. It would have been impossible to enact such a criminal operation without the say-so of the man at the helm of the terrorist state,” he added.
“To part children from their families, to prevent them from contacting their relatives, to hide children on the territory of Russia, to disseminate them around far-flung regions is clearly state policy of Russia, state decisions and state evil, which starts precisely with the top official of this state,” Zelensky further stated.
UK’s Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said that it would be a “long journey” until Putin is brought to justice. United States President Joe Biden called the step “justified”, stating that the move “makes a very strong point”.
Quite expectedly, Russia has said that the warrant issued by the ICC has ‘no meaning’ and is ‘legally void’.
“The decisions of the International Criminal Court have no meaning for our country, including from a legal point of view,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on social media.
“Russia is not a party of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and bears no obligations under it,” she added.
“Russia does not cooperate with this body and possible ‘recipes’ for arrest coming from the international court will be legally void as far as we are concerned,” she said without referring to Putin by name.
(With inputs from agencies)
