An arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin has been issued by The International Criminal Court, which has accused him of being responsible for war crimes committed in Ukraine.
In a statement, the court said, “[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.”
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.
An arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin has been issued by The International Criminal Court
(Sputnik)
Moscow has repeatedly denied accusations of atrocities during its one-year invasion of its neighbour.
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.”
On Thursday, a U.N.-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.
But on Friday, the ICC put the face of Putin on the child abduction allegations.
The prosecutor general of Ukraine has hailed the ICC warrant for Putin as a “historic” decision, while the Ukrainian President’s chief of staff has described it as “only the beginning”.
But a spokeswoman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said the decision to issue an arrest warrant for Putin has no significance whatsoever. She added Russia is not a member of the Rome Statute.
More follows on this breaking news story….
