ICC issues arrest warrant against Putin for war crimes in Ukraine, Zelensky hails ‘historic’ move, Russia calls it ‘outrageous’

The Hague: In an unprecedented move, the International Criminal Court on Friday issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes, accusing him of personal responsibility for the unlawful abductions of Ukrainian children.

It was the first time the global court has issued a warrant against a leader of one of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.

The ICC said in a statement that Putin "is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of (children) and that of unlawful transfer of (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation."

The ICC, set up in 2002, is a court of last resort for the world's worst crimes when countries cannot or will not prosecute suspects.

Ukraine welcomed the ICC announcement as a major breakthrough. In his nightly address to the nation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it a "historic decision, from which historic responsibility will begin."

The move was immediately dismissed by Moscow as ‘legally void’. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the court's move "outrageous and unacceptable."

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev compared the warrants to toilet paper, while foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said they "have no meaning" for Russia.

Its practical implications, however, could be limited as the chances of Putin facing trial at the ICC are highly unlikely because Moscow does not recognize the court's jurisdiction or extradite its nationals.

ICC’s arrest warrants come a day after UN investigators said Russia's forced transfer and deportation of Ukrainian children to areas under its control amounts to a war crime.

The investigators said parents and children had spoken of youngsters being informed by Russian social services that they would be placed in foster families or adopted.

More than 16,000 Ukrainian children have been deported to Russia since the February 24, 2022 invasion, according to Kyiv, with many allegedly placed in institutions and foster homes.

The top court’s notice came hours after other news with the potential to significantly impact Russia's war on Ukraine, including a Moscow visit from Chinese leader Xi Jinping and more fighter jets for Kyiv's forces.

The court had also issued a warrant against Maria Lvova-Belova, the commissioner for Children's Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, on similar charges.

The AP reported on Lvova-Belova’s involvement in the abduction of Ukrainian orphans in October, in the first investigation to follow the process all the way to Russia, relying on dozens of interviews and documents.

The moral condemnation will likely stain the Russian leader for the rest of his life and in the more immediate future whenever he set foot in any of the court's more than 120 member states to attend an international summit, where he will now be liable for arrest.

"So, Putin might go to China, Syria, Iran, his ... few allies, but he just won't travel to the rest of the world and won't travel to ICC member states who he believes would ... arrest him," said Adil Ahmad Haque, an expert in international law and armed conflict at Rutgers University.

Others agreed. "Vladimir Putin will forever be marked as a pariah globally. He has lost all his political credibility around the world. Any world leader who stands by him will be shamed as well," David Crane, a former international prosecutor, told The Associated Press

ICC President Piotr Hofmanski said in a video statement that while the ICC's judges have issued the warrants, it will be up to the international community to enforce them. The court has no police force of its own to do so.

The ICC can impose a maximum sentence of life imprisonment "when justified by the extreme gravity of the crime," according to its founding treaty, the Rome Statute, that established it as a permanent court of last resort to prosecute political leaders and other key perpetrators of the world's worst atrocities war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

Still, the chances of Putin or Lvova-Belova facing trial remain extremely remote, as Moscow does not recognize the court's jurisdiction a position it vehemently reaffirmed Friday.

Peskov refused to comment when asked if Putin would avoid making trips to countries where he could be arrested on the ICC's warrant.

Ukraine's human rights chief, Dmytro Lubinets, has said that based on data from the country's National Information Bureau, 16,226 children were deported. Ukraine has managed to bring back 308 children.

Lvova-Belova reacted with dripping sarcasm. "It is great that the international community has appreciated the work to help the children of our country, that we do not leave them in war zones, that we take them out, we create good conditions for them, that we surround them with loving, caring people," she said.

During a meeting with Putin in mid-February, Lvova-Belova said she adopted a 15-year-old child from the devastated Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.

"Now I know what it means to be a mother of a child from Donbas -- it is a difficult job but we love each other, that is for sure," she told Putin.

She added that "we evacuated children's homes into safe areas, arranged rehabilitation and prosthetics for them and provided them with targeted humanitarian assistance."

"The world changed," said presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the "wheels of justice are turning," and added that "international criminals will be held accountable for stealing children and other international crimes."

In Washington, President Joe Biden called the ICC's decision "justified," telling reporters as he left the White House for his Delaware home that Putin "clearly committed war crimes."

While the US does not recognize the court either, Biden said it "makes a very strong point" to call out the Russian leader's actions in ordering the invasion.

"There is no doubt that Russia is committing war crimes and atrocities in Ukraine, and we have been clear that those responsible must be held accountable," a State Department spokesperson said. "The ICC Prosecutor is an independent actor."

Britain also welcomed the decision and the European Union said it was "just the start."

Human Rights Watch said it was a "big day for the many victims" of Russian forces.

Olga Lopatkina, a Ukrainian mother who struggled for months to reclaim her foster children who were deported to an institution run by Russian loyalists, welcomed news of the arrest warrant. "Everyone must be punished for their crimes," she said in a message exchange with the AP.

While Ukraine is also not a member of the global court, it has granted it jurisdiction over its territory and ICC prosecutor Karim Khan has visited four times since opening an investigation a year ago.

Khan said the arrest warrants were "based upon forensic evidence, scrutiny and what's been said by those two individuals". "The evidence we presented focused on crimes against children. Children are the most vulnerable part of our society," he said.

"As I noted to the United Nations Security Council last September, these alleged acts are being investigated by my office as a priority. Children cannot be treated as the spoils of war," Khan said.

Khan launched an investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine just days after Russia's invasion.

Khan recently posted pictures from a visit to Ukraine alongside empty cots in an empty children's care home 2 kilometres from front lines in southern Ukraine.

"The drawings pinned on the wall ... spoke to a context of love and support that was once there," he said in a statement. "But this home was empty, a result of alleged deportation of children from Ukraine to the Russian Federation or their unlawful transfer to other parts of the temporarily occupied territories."

‘’It's poignant," he said. "One sees empty cribs and empty beds juxtaposed with paintings by those children on the walls."

While Russia had dismissed the top court’s warrant, Khan however said there were "so many examples of people that thought they were beyond the reach of the law".

"Look at (Slobodan) Milosevic or Charles Taylor or (Radovan) Karadzic or (Ratko) Mladic," he said, referring to a series of war criminals from the former Yugoslavia, and former Liberian president Taylor, who have faced justice.

Besides Russia and Ukraine, the United States and China are not members of the 123-member ICC.

The ICC said its pre-trial chamber found "reasonable grounds" that Putin "bears individual criminal responsibility" for the child abductions "for having committed the acts directly, jointly with others and/or through others" and for failing to "exercise control properly over civilian and military subordinates who committed the acts.

"The ICC has made Putin a wanted man and taken its first step to end the impunity that has emboldened perpetrators in Russia's war against Ukraine for far too long," said Balkees Jarrah, associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch. "The warrants send a clear message that giving orders to commit, or tolerating, serious crimes against civilians may lead to a prison cell in The Hague."

Crane, who indicted Liberian President Charles Taylor 20 years ago for crimes in Sierra Leone, said dictators and tyrants around the world "are now on notice that those who commit international crimes will be held accountable." Taylor was eventually detained and put on trial at a special court in the Netherlands. He was convicted and sentenced to 50 years' imprisonment.

On Thursday, a U.N.-backed inquiry cited Russian attacks against civilians in Ukraine, including systematic torture and killing in occupied regions, among potential issues that amount to war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity.

The sweeping investigation also found crimes committed against Ukrainians on Russian territory, including deported Ukrainian children who were prevented from reuniting with their families, a "filtration" system aimed at singling out Ukrainians for detention, and torture and inhumane detention conditions.