Court in The Hague grants permission for Putin's arrest

This is reported by the press service of the ICC.

Today, on 17 March 2023, Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court ("ICC" or "the Court") issued arrest warrants for two individuals in the context of the situation in Ukraine: Mr Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Mrs Maria Alexeyevna Lvova-Belova," the notice reads.

Putin and Belova are suspected of illegal deportation of population (children) and illegal transfer of population (children) from the occupied territories of Ukraine to the territory of Russia starting from 24 February 2022.

Ukraine has already reacted to the International Court of Justice's statement.

In particular, Ukrainian Prosecutor-General Andriy Kostin called the ruling historic for Ukraine and the entire system of international law.

It means that outside Russia Putin should be arrested and brought to court. And world leaders will think three times before pressing his hand or sitting down with him at the negotiating table. The world has received a signal that the Russian regime is criminal and its leadership and henchmen will be brought to justice," he wrote.

Kostin also said that Ukraine had handed over to the International Court of Justice more than 1,000 pages of materials on the recorded crimes of forcible deportation of children.