Vladimir Putin: International Criminal Court issues arrest warrant

The Hague
International Criminal Court issues arrest warrant for Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit

© Sergei Bobylev / Pool Sputnik Kremlin / AP / DPA

Russia abducted numerous Ukrainian children. An arrest warrant was therefore issued in The Hague against Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin. But that doesn’t interest him.

The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin for alleged war crimes in Ukraine. This was announced by the court in The Hague on Friday. Putin is allegedly responsible for the deportation of Ukrainian children from occupied territories to Russia. The judges had granted a request by the chief prosecutor Karim Khan to issue an arrest warrant.

It is the first arrest warrant issued by the court in connection with alleged war crimes in Ukraine. The court also issued an arrest warrant for Maria Lwova-Belowa, Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights. She is also accused of war crimes in connection with the deportation of Ukrainian children.

Putin should be held accountable as commander. The suspicion is justified that he insufficiently controlled his civilian or military subordinates. The exact text of the arrest warrants will not be released to protect victims and witnesses, the court said.

Arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin “legally void”

However, it is unlikely that Putin will actually appear before the court in The Hague. Russia does not recognize the court. The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said in a press conference on possible arrest warrants against Russians on Thursday: “Russia does not cooperate with the organ. And possible arrest “recipes” that emanate from the International Court are for us legally void.” The court’s decisions have no meaning for Russia. Furthermore, the court may not conduct trials in the absence of the accused.

Although Ukraine has not ratified the Rome Statute of the International Court of Justice, Kyiv recognizes the jurisdiction of judges for crimes against humanity and war crimes against Ukraine committed on Ukrainian territory since 2014. In 2015, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin issued a statement to this effect in The Hague. Shortly after the outbreak of the war, Chief Prosecutor Khan had already started investigations in Ukraine.

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DPA

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