The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and one of his commissioners over alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
“Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court (“ICC” or “the Court”) issued warrants of arrest for two individuals in the context of the situation in Ukraine: Mr Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Ms Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova,” the ICC said in a statement on Friday.
The court accused the duo of being responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of children and unlawful transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.
The crimes, the court said, were allegedly committed in Ukrainian-occupied territory at least from 24 February 2022.
It noted that it has reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Putin is responsible for having committed the acts directly or jointly with others and/or through others.
“There are reasonable grounds to believe that Ms…
