Russia, March.18: The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The court alleges he is responsible for war crimes, and has focused its claims on the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia.
It says the crimes were committed in Ukraine from 24 February 2022 – when Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
Moscow has denied the allegations and labelled the warrants as “outrageous”.
It is highly unlikely that much will come of the move – the ICC has no powers to arrest suspects, and can only exercise jurisdiction within its member countries – and Russia is not one of them.
However it could affect the president in other ways, such as being unable to travel internationally.
In a statement, the ICC said it had reasonable grounds to believe Mr Putin committed the criminal acts directly, as well as working with others. It also accused him of failing to use his presidential powers to stop children being deported.
Russia Calls it Toilet Paper:
Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said any of the court’s decisions were “null and void” and former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev compared the warrant to toilet paper.
“No need to explain WHERE this paper should be used,” he wrote on Twitter, with a toilet paper emoji.
However Russian opposition leaders welcomed the announcement. Ivan Zhdanov, a close ally of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, tweeted that it was “a symbolic step” but an important one.
