March 18, (THEWILL) – The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrant for Russian President, Vladimir Putin, over alleged war crimes.
The claims by the court are primarily centred around the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia, BBC reports.
The ICC states that the crimes were committed in Ukraine from the 24th of February, 2022, which is when Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
The court made this known in a statement released on Friday, asserting that it had reasonable grounds to believe Putin committed the criminal acts directly, as well as working with others.
Moscow, however, has denied the allegations, calling the arrest warrants outrageous.
The court also said Putin failed to use his presidential powers to stop the deportation of children.
Alongside Putin, the Russian Commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, is also wanted by the ICC for the same crimes.
Responding to the warrants, the Kremlin said it did not recognise the jurisdiction of the ICC.
The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, described the decisions “null and void.”
This is due to the fact that the ICC has no powers to arrest suspects, and can only exercise jurisdiction within the countries that are signatories to its agreement. Russia is not a signatory to that agreement.
