The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin over the alleged deporting of Ukrainian children to Russia since the invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
The court alleged that Putin is responsible for war crimes, focused on the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia.
However, Russia said that the ICC has no powers to arrest Putin as the court can only exercise within the jurisdiction of its member countries and Russia is not one of them.
Russia also called the warrant “outrageous” as the warrant may restrict the president’s international travel.
Earlier, Russia denied all the allegations of unlawful deportation of children.
In a statement, the ICC said it had reasonable grounds to believe Mr. Putin committed the criminal acts directly, as well as working with others.
It also accused him of failing to use his presidential powers to stop children from being deported.
Russia's commissioner for children's rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, is also wanted by the ICC for the same crimes.
Notably, more than 16,000 Ukrainian children have been allegedly deported to Russia since the February 24, 2022 invasion, according to Ukraine with many shifted to institutions and foster homes.