International Criminal Court cements Putin's pariah status with arrest warrant for alleged war crimes — illegally snatching kids from Ukraine

• The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
• Putin has allegedly committed war crimes in Ukraine, the ICC said in a Friday statement.
• He's been accused by the court of orchestrating involvement in illegally transferring children from Ukraine to Russia.

The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, alleging he is responsible for war crimes committed in Ukraine.

Putin 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," the ICC said in a Friday statement.

The Netherlands-based court alleged these crimes have been carried out since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022.

The ICC's announcement comes a day after the United Nations published a report that detailed violations of human rights and international humanitarian law by Russian forces in Ukraine. The UN said many of the actions, including the transfer and deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia, "amount to war crimes."

"It is forbidden by international law for occupying powers to transfer civilians from the territory they live in to other territories. Children enjoy special protection under the Geneva Conventions," ICC President Judge Piotr Hofmański said in a video posted to social media.

The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, who is the commissioner for children's rights in the Kremlin's presidential office, for war crimes allegations similar to those raised against Putin.

Hofmański said in the video that ICC judges issued the arrest warrants, but that the execution of these warrants will depend on international cooperation.

The Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.

Since Putin launched an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has placed more than 6,000 Ukrainian children in "re-education" camps, according to a US State Department-funded study conducted by Yale University researchers that was released last month. The report said that the alleged actions of the Russian government, including "unnecessarily expediting the adoption and fostering of children from Ukraine during the current emergency, could constitute a potential war crime and crime against humanity in some cases."

Human rights groups celebrated the ICC's decision to issue an arrest warrant for the Russian leader.

"This is a big day for the many victims of crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine since 2014. With these arrest warrants, 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," Balkees Jarrah, associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

Jarrah added that 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," and serve as a "wakeup call" to others involved in abuses or covering them up.

Ukraine's top diplomat, Dmytro Kuleba, also lauded the move.

"Wheels of Justice are turning: I applaud the ICC decision to issue arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova over forcible transfer of Ukrainian children. International criminals will be held accountable for stealing children and other international crimes," Kuleba said in a tweet.

That said, the limitations of the international justice system make it extremely unlikely that Putin will ever stand trial.

Russia is not an ICC member and therefore does not recognize its jurisdiction, and the court cannot try defendants in absentia. In other words, Putin would have to agree to appear before the court or be arrested in order for a trial to proceed — two improbable scenarios. The Russian leader has limited his travel to countries friendly to Moscow since the war began, skipping the G20 in Bali, for example, in November.

But the arrest warrant still cements Putin's status as an international pariah, and is a remarkable rebuke of the leader of one the most power countries in the world.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.