Putin Receives War Crimes Warrant From International Court

The International Criminal Court announced on Friday that it had issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, for war crimes in connection with the alleged kidnapping of children from Ukraine.

Putin “is allegedly responsible for the war crime of (children’s) unlawful deportation from (occupied) territories of Ukraine to the Russian Federation,” according to a statement from the court.

On Friday, it also issued a warrant for the arrest of Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, the Russian Federation’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights, on related charges.

Moscow instantly discounted the action, while Ukraine hailed it as a significant advance. Nonetheless, its practical ramifications can be insignificant.

It was the first time the court had issued a warrant against one of the five permanent members of the U.N., even though it had previously indicted world leaders. Council of Security.

Piotr Hofmanski, the court’s president, said in a video statement that although the ICC’s judges issued the warrants, it would be up to the rest of the world to ensure they were carried out.

There is no internal police force within the court to carry out warrants.

He claimed the ICC was carrying out its responsibility as a court of law. “The judges issued arrest warrants. International cooperation is necessary for the execution.

The likelihood of Russians being tried at the ICC is still incredibly remote because Moscow does not accept the court’s jurisdiction—a stance it vehemently reaffirmed on Friday.

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, reiterated that Russia does not recognize the ICC and views its rulings as “legally void,” calling the court’s action “outrageous and intolerable.”

When questioned whether Putin would avoid traveling to nations where he might be detained under the ICC’s arrest warrant, Peskov declined to respond.

Officials in Ukraine were ecstatic.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a presidential adviser, declared that “the world shifted.” The “wheels of justice are spinning,” according to foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, who also claimed that “international criminals will be held accountable for taking children and other international crimes.”