The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin. He is accused of illegally deporting children.
The International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday. He is accused of two war crimes, both in connection with the “unlawful deportation” of Ukrainian children to Russia.
The Russian government’s commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Alekseevna Lwowa-Belowa, is now wanted on an arrest warrant in this connection.
The alleged war crimes are said to have taken place in the Russian-occupied areas of eastern Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression on February 24, 2022. “There are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Putin bears individual criminal responsibility,” the Criminal Court said in a press release. The same applies to Lvowa-Belowa. It is the first time that an international arrest warrant has been issued for a sitting head of state as powerful as Vladimir Putin.
Russia: “Court is meaningless”
The competent second chamber of the court decided to keep the exact text of the arrest warrants secret in order to protect victims and witnesses and to secure their investigations. However, since the alleged war crimes of “unlawful deportation” of children could continue, it was decided to inform the public about the existence of the documents. With the announcement, the court hopes to be able to prevent further criminal offenses in this context.
Russia immediately reiterated that the criminal court in The Hague was meaningless. “The decisions of the International Criminal Court have no meaning for our country, not even in legal terms,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on her Telegram channel.
In Kiev, Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin welcomed the ICC’s decision as “historic for Ukraine and the entire international legal system”. The head of the presidential office, Andriy Yermak, said the issuing of the arrest warrant was “only the beginning”.
Federal government welcomes arrest warrant
The federal government also reacted positively to the decision of the court in The Hague. Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) welcomed the arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin. “Anyone who, like Putin, instigated a bloody war should have to answer for it in court,” the FDP politician told the “RND” on Friday.
“The best solution is if charges can be brought before the International Criminal Court. The arrest warrant for war crimes that has now been issued is an important signal of determination,” said Buschmann.
The United Nations, meanwhile, avoided a direct response to the arrest warrant against Putin. The spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Stephane Dujarric, only emphasized on Friday that Putin was not persona non grata for the UN chief because of the decision: “The Secretary-General will always speak to anyone who needs to speak to.” .
Investigations against Kremlin since the beginning of the war
Shortly after the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine, the International Criminal Court began investigating alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. The prosecutor responsible for the criminal court, Karim Khan, has been to Ukraine three times in person, including in the Kiev region, where a massacre is said to have taken place in Bucha.
With the arrest warrants issued for Putin and Lvova-Belova, both could now be arrested if they enter any of the 123 countries that recognize the court. It is a first step towards a possible trial.
On Thursday, a commission of inquiry commissioned by the UN published a report according to which Russia had committed numerous war crimes in Ukraine. More than 500 interviews were conducted for the report. In addition, the experts evaluated satellite images, determined in prisons and examined graves. Russia has always denied committing atrocities or attacking civilians.
