The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of being responsible for war crimes committed in Ukraine.

Moscow has repeatedly denied accusations that its forces committed atrocities during the invasion. The ICC issued the arrest warrant for Putin on suspicion of illegal deportation of children and illegal transportation of people from the territory of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.

Earlier last week, Reuters reported that the court is expected to issue warrants, the first in its investigation into the war in Ukraine. The court issued a separate warrant for Maria Alekseyeva Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, on the same charges.

Senior Ukrainian officials have welcomed the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue an arrest warrant against Russian President, Vladimir Putin. The Ukrainian Prosecutor General, Andrei Kostin, stated that the decision of the Court is historic for Ukraine and for the entire system of international law, while Mr. Andriy Yermak, head of President Zelensky’s office, said that the issuance of the warrant is just the beginning.

From Russia’s side, in a first reaction the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, emphasized that Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and has no obligations under the same. Furthermore, she added that Russia does not cooperate with that body and any arrest warrants issued by the International Court of Justice will be considered as legally void.

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Dmitry Medvedev initially emphasized that the ICC issued an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin and that there is no reason to explain where this paper should be used, adding the icon of a toilet roll.

Balkees Jarrah, associate director of the International Justice Program, commented that this is a big day for the many victims of the crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine since 2014, while with these arrest warrants, the ICC made Putin a wanted man and took the first step to end the impunity that has long encouraged the perpetrators of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

The warrants send a clear message that ordering serious crimes against civilians, or tolerating them, can lead to a prison cell in The Hague, while the court’s warrants are a wake-up call to others who commit or cover up abuses, that the day of their trial may come, regardless of their rank or position, she concluded.

Source: Reuters

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