ICC issues arrest warrant for Putin over alleged Ukraine war crimes

The International Criminal Court said on Thursday there were 'reasonable grounds' to believe that Russia's president was responsible for the deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia.

By Edward Era Barbacena

The International Criminal Court said on Friday, March 17, it has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes because of his alleged involvement in the abduction of children from Ukraine.

The court said in a statement 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."

War-battered Ukraine welcomed the ICC announcement, with President Voldomyr Zelensky hailing it as a "historic decision."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says that Russia doesn’t recognize the International Criminal Court and considers its decisions “legally void.” He added that Russia considers the court’s move to issue an arrest warrant Friday against Putin “outrageous and unacceptable.”

It also issued a warrant Friday for the arrest of Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, the Commissioner for Children's Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, on similar allegations.

The ICC said that its pre-trial chamber found there were "reasonable grounds to believe that each suspect bears responsibility for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population and that of unlawful transfer of population from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation, in prejudice of Ukrainian children."

The court's president, Piotr Hofmanski, said in a video statement that while the ICC's judges have issued the warrants, it will be up to the international community to enforce them. The court has no police force of its own to enforce warrants.

"The ICC is doing its part of work as a court of law. The judges issued arrest warrants. The execution depends on international cooperation."

A possible trial of any Russians at the ICC remains a long way off, as Moscow doesn't recognize the court's jurisdiction – a position reaffirmed earlier this week by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov – and does not extradite its nationals.

A possible trial of any Russians at the ICC remains a long way off, as Moscow doesn't recognize the court's jurisdiction – a position reaffirmed earlier this week by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov – and does not extradite its nationals.

Ukraine also is not a member of the court, but it has granted the ICC jurisdiction over its territory and ICC prosecutor Karim Khan has visited four times since opening an investigation a year ago.

Moscow dismissed the ICC's decisions as having "no meaning" for Russia, "including from a legal point of view," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on social media. "Possible 'recipes' for arrest coming from the international court will be legally void as far as we are concerned," she added without referring to Putin by name.

On Thursday, a UN-backed inquiry cited Russian attacks against civilians in Ukraine, including systematic torture and killing in occupied regions, among potential issues that amount to war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity.

The sweeping investigation also found crimes committed against Ukrainians on Russian territory, including deported Ukrainian children who were prevented from reuniting with their families, a "filtration" system aimed at singling out Ukrainians for detention, and torture and inhumane detention conditions.