Extract from ABC News
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of being responsible for the war crime of illegal deportation of children from Ukraine.
Key points:
- The ICC has called for Mr Putin's arrest for the unlawful deportation of children and unlawful transfer of people from the territory of Ukraine to Russia
The court also issued a warrant for Russia's Commissioner for Children's Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova
Russia says the arrest warrants had "no meaning for our country" as it is not a party to the Rome Statute, the treaty underpinning the world's permanent war crimes tribunal
The ICC called for Mr Putin's arrest on suspicion of unlawful deportation of children and unlawful transfer of people from the territory of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.
"The crimes were allegedly committed in Ukrainian occupied territory at least from 24 February, 2022," it said.
"There are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for the aforementioned crimes."
ICC President Piotr Hofmanski said in a video statement on Friday that while the court's judges have issued the warrants, it will be up to the international community to enforce them.
"The ICC is doing its part of work as a court of law," he said.
"The judges issued arrest warrants. The execution depends on international cooperation."
Charges 'outrageous and unacceptable'
Moscow has repeatedly denied accusations that its forces have committed atrocities during its one-year invasion of its neighbour and the Kremlin branded the court decision as "null and void" with respect to Russia.
Neither Russia nor Ukraine are members of the ICC, but Kyiv granted it jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed on its territory.
The tribunal, with 123 member states, has no police force of its own and relies on member countries to detain and transfer suspects to The Hague for trial.
While it is unlikely that Mr Putin will end up in court any time soon, the warrant means that he could be arrested and sent to The Hague if travelling to any ICC member states.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia found the very questions raised by the ICC "outrageous and unacceptable".
Asked if Mr Putin now feared travelling to countries that recognised the ICC, Mr Peskov said: "I have nothing to add on this subject. That's all we want to say."
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on her Telegram channel that the arrest warrants had "no meaning for our country" as it is not a party to the Rome Statute, the treaty underpinning the world's permanent war crimes tribunal.
'Wheels of justice are turning'
Meanwhile, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba hailed the news on Twitter, writing "the wheels of justice are turning".
"International criminals will be held accountable for stealing children and other international crimes."
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said it was just the start of "holding Russia accountable for its crimes and atrocities in Ukraine".
Mr Putin is the third serving president to be the target of an ICC arrest warrant, after Sudan's Omar al-Bashir and Libya's Muammar Gaddafi.
It marks the first time such a warrant has been issued against one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
Russia's Child Rights chief dismisses charges
The court also issued a warrant on Friday for Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia's Commissioner for Children's Rights, on the same charges.
She responded to the news with irony, according to RIA Novosti agency: "It's great that the international community has appreciated the work to help the children of our country."
Ukraine has said more than 16,000 children have been illegally transferred to Russia or Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine.
Children held in Moscow-run camps
A US-backed report by Yale University researchers last month said Russia has held at least 6,000 Ukrainian children at sites in Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
The report identified at least 43 camps and other facilities where Ukrainian children have been held that were part of a "large-scale systematic network" operated by Moscow since its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has not concealed a program under which it has brought thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia, but presents it as a humanitarian campaign to protect orphans and children abandoned in the conflict zone.
He highlighted during four trips to Ukraine that he was looking at alleged crimes against children and the targeting of civilian infrastructure.
Reuters/AP
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