The Hague based International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants against Russia president Vladimir Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation over war crimes in Ukraine owing to alleged “unlawful deportation” of Ukrainian children.
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.”
The court’s pre-trial judges assessed 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”.
However, Moscow has previously said it does not recognise the jurisdiction of the ICC and denied allegations of war crimes during the invasion.
Moscow has repeatedly denied accusations that its forces have committed atrocities during its one-year invasion of its neighbour.
And in a quick rejoinder, Moscow said that the ICC arrest warrants “have no meaning for our country, including from a legal point of view,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on her Telegram channel.
