Ukraine war: International Criminal Court issues arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin, alleging that he is responsible for the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine.

In a statement on Friday, the ICC accused Putin of deporting and transferring children from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.

“There are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for the aforementioned crimes,” the ICC said.

It added that the crimes were committed in Ukraine from at least 24 February 2022, which is when the war broke out.

An arrest warrant was separately issued against Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova for the same allegations. She is Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights.

Earlier this week, Reuters reported that the prosecutor of the ICC was going to ask a pre-trial judge to approve issuing warrants against several Russians for the abduction of children from Ukraine to Russia.

About one year ago, the ICC's prosecutor Karim Khan started a probe into potential genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Ukraine. During his four visits to Ukraine, Khan focused on alleged offences against children and the destruction of civilian infrastructure.