The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague issued arrest warrants for Russian thug and war criminal Vladimir Putin and his "Commissioner for Children's Rights" Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova for their monstrous campaign of kidnapping Ukrainian children and taking them to Russia for indoctrination. From the ICC's news release:
"Mr Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, born on 7 October 1952, President of the Russian Federation, is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation (under articles 8(2)(a)(vii) and 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute). The crimes were allegedly committed in Ukrainian occupied territory at least from 24 February 2022. There are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for the aforementioned crimes, (i) for having committed the acts directly, jointly with others and/or through others (article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute), and (ii) for his failure to exercise control properly over civilian and military subordinates who committed the acts, or allowed for their commission, and who were under his effective authority and control, pursuant to superior responsibility (article 28(b) of the Rome Statute)." (our emphasis)
Lvova-Belova was the operational figure orchestrating the kidnappings, estimated by authorities to be in excess of 16,000 children, and has the same particulars as Putin in her arrest warrant.
The ICC is recognized by 123 countries (not including Russia, or the United States). The treaty that established the ICC, referred to as the Rome Statute, dates from July, 1988. It's not likely that Putin or Lvova-Belova would be arrested, since they would have to travel to one of the signatory countries and the country would have to agree to arrest them. But for a megalomaniac like Putin, who craves the attention and respect of the West, it's a blow to his esteem and to Russia's standing, further marking them as criminal pariahs in the world community.
(photo montage: Jonathan Raa / Nurphoto / Getty Images)
