On Friday, the Internal Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin. The Russian President was charged with allegations of war crimes. It has been around a year since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine started. The Russian invasion of Ukraine started In February last year. The allegations come concerning the conflict with Ukraine.
The court also issued an arrest warrant for a second office along with the Russian president. Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova was also issued with an arrest warrant. The official was Russia’s children’s rights commissioner and was involved in a program sponsored by the Kremlin. As a part of the program, Ukrainian children were taken to Russia. The International Criminal Court issued a warrant in light of child abduction allegations. ICC prosecutor Karim Khan told AFP that Putin was now liable for arrest if he set foot in any of the court’s more than 120 member states. Neither Russia nor Ukraine are members of the ICC, but Kyiv has accepted the court’s jurisdiction and is working with Khan’s office.
The warrants of arrest were issued according to the applications submitted by the Prosecution on 22 February 2024.
During the conflict, it was suspected that Russians took orphan children and brought them to Russia. According to reports from local authorities, around 1,000 children were taken from schools and orphanages in the Kherson region during Russia’s eight-month occupation. However, Moscow has denied any allegations of committing atrocities during the invasion.
According to the allegations, Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova had played a role in the forceful deportation of thousands of Ukrainian children. According to the ICC, the crimes were committed in Ukranian territory from an estimated date of 24 Feb 2022.Â
According to an investigation by The New York Times released in October, numerous Ukrainian children were illegally or forcefully taken away under Russia’s systematic resettlement efforts, or as mentioned earlier, the Kremlin-sponsored child program for which the President and the official are being charged. The children reported being coerced, deceived, and forced during the painful process. Russia has defended these transfers as being motivated by humanitarian concerns.
There is reason to believe that President Putin is individually responsible for committing war crimes directly or through others, and for failing to control subordinates who committed or allowed the crimes to be committed, as per the Rome Statute’s articles 25(3)(a) and 28(b).
Putin Arrest Warrant :
According to the International Criminal Court, Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, who is the Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, is believed to be responsible for war crimes related to the unlawful deportation and transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia.
The crimes were allegedly committed from at least February 24, 2022, and there are reasonable grounds to believe that she committed the acts directly, jointly with others, or through others. The crime is categorized under Article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute.
The Russian Foreign Ministry rejected the ICC warrants. However, the issuance of the warrant against Putin could further isolate him from the West and restrict his ability to travel abroad. If he visits a country that is a member of the ICC, the country must arrest him and transport him to appear for trial at The Hague.
While human rights groups welcomed the warrant as a significant move towards ending the impunity for Russian war crimes in Ukraine, the chances of a trial taking place while Putin is in power seem low, as the court cannot conduct trials without Putin and the official being present, and Russia has declared that it will not hand over its officials.
