The International Criminal Court announced on Friday that it had issued an arrest order for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes. Blaming him for the kidnappings of Ukrainian children.
It was the first time an order had been issued by the international court against the head of one of the five nations that make up the U.N. Security Council.
Putin “is allegedly responsible for the war crime of (children’s) unlawful deportation from (occupied) areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation,” according to a statement from the ICC.
Moscow quickly rejected the action, but Ukraine hailed it as a significant advance.
However, given that there is little chance of Putin being tried at the ICC because Moscow refuses to recognize the court’s authority or extradite its citizens, its practical ramifications might be limited.
But the moral rebuke will probably follow the Russian leader for the rest of his life, And shortly whenever he tries to travel to a country that will arrest Putin to attend a meeting.
The international community will be responsible for enforcing the warrants, according to ICC President Piotr Hofmanski in a video message. The court lacks a private police squad to do this.
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.
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.
