The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, alleging that he committed war crimes during the conflict in Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden has welcomed the move, stating that Putin had “clearly” committed war crimes, specifically the illegal deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia since Moscow’s invasion in 2022.
The ICC, located in The Hague, accused Putin of failing to use his presidential powers to stop the deportation of children, and committing criminal acts directly as well as working with others.
Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, is also wanted by the ICC for the same crimes.
While Russia is not a member of the ICC, the arrest warrant could still affect Putin’s international travel as he could be arrested if he sets foot in any of the court’s 123 member states.
This is the first time a sitting president has been issued with an ICC arrest warrant since Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in 2009.
The ICC’s decision follows the United Nations’ report earlier this week that found Moscow’s forced removal of Ukrainian children to areas under its control amounted to a war crime.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan stated that the arrest warrants were “based upon forensic evidence, scrutiny, and what’s been said by those two individuals.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the ICC’s decision, stating that any of the court’s decisions were “null and void,” while former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev compared the warrant to toilet paper.
However, Russian opposition activists have 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.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has also expressed his gratitude to Khan and the ICC for their decision to press charges against “state evil.”
It is highly unlikely that much will come of the move, as the ICC has no powers to arrest suspects without the cooperation of a country’s government.
Nonetheless, the ICC’s decision to issue an arrest warrant against a sitting president could change how foreign leaders view Putin and his actions in Ukraine.
