The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over the forced transfer of children to Russia following the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainians accuse Moscow of attempting genocide against them and trying to destroy their identity – partly through deporting children to Russia.
The Hague-based court said in a statement Putin was “allegedly responsible for the war crime of illegal deportation of the population (children)” and “illegal transfer of the population (children) from the occupied territories of Ukraine”. Friday,
“There are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Putin bears personal criminal responsibility for these crimes,” the statement said.
The Russian president, the court argued, “failed to properly exercise control over civilian and military subordinates who committed the acts” and who were “under his effective authority and control.”
Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for the rights of children in the office of the president, was also hit by an ICC warrant for her role in the deportation.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the issuance of the warrant against Putin “historic” and said it would lead to “historic responsibility”.
“More than 16,000 cases of forced deportation of Ukrainian children by the occupier have already been filed in criminal proceedings investigated by our law enforcement officers,” Zelensky said in his statement. night address late friday “But the real, absolute number of people deported could be much higher.”
It is the first time the ICC has issued a warrant in relation to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began last February. It comes ahead of a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Russia next week and would severely limit Putin’s own potential range of diplomatic visits.
Moscow has already said not recognized Court’s authority.
In response, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said: “The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin. Needless to say where this paper should be used…” concluding with a toilet paper emoji.
US President Joe Biden welcomed the arrest warrant, saying Putin “clearly committed war crimes.” Biden told reporters on Friday that the ICC made ‘a very strong point’ in issuing the warrant.
Despite Very reports that Russian forces committed war crimes in Ukraine – including a recent UN investigation which said Russia’s forced deportation of Ukrainian children is a war crime – the Kremlin has denied He has committed a crime.
In a statement, Balqis Jarrah, Associate International Justice Director at Human Rights Watch, welcomed the announcement and said the warrant “sent a clear message that ordering to commit or tolerate serious crimes against civilians can lead to a prison cell.” Is.”
This article has been updated.