The ICC has issued an arrest warrant against Putin for war crimes committed in Ukraine

HAGUE… The International Criminal Court said on Friday it had issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin on war crimes charges for his alleged involvement in the abduction of children from Ukraine.

The court said in a statement that Putin is “allegedly responsible for the illegal deportation of the population (children) and the illegal transfer of the population (children) from the occupied territories of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.”

On Friday, he also issued an arrest warrant for Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, Commissioner for Children’s Rights at the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, on similar charges.

The International Criminal Court stated that, according to its preliminary ruling, “there are reasonable grounds to believe that all suspects are responsible for the illegal deportation of the population and the illegal transfer of the population from the occupied territories of Ukraine to the Russian Federation. for Ukrainian children.”

On Thursday, a U.N.-backed investigation cited Russian attacks against civilians in Ukraine, including systematic torture and killings in occupied regions, as war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity.

The comprehensive investigation also found crimes against Ukrainians on Russian territory, including deported Ukrainian children being prevented from reuniting with their families, a “screening” system to select Ukrainians for detention, and torture and inhumane detention conditions.

But on Friday, the ICC put Putin’s face on the child abduction charges.

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