Vladimir Putin wanted by International Criminal Court – Kremlin calls move ‘outrageous and unacceptable’
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of abducting children from Ukraine.
It also issued a warrant for the arrest of Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, Russia‘s commissioner for children, on similar allegations of war crimes.
The Kremlin said Russia found the questions raised by the ICC “outrageous and unacceptable”.
They added the warrants are “null and void” as Russia does not recognise the ICC and has not signed up to the Rome Statutes – the treaty underpinning the world’s permanent war crimes tribunal.
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Putin arrest warrant a ‘historic moment’
Meanwhile, Ms Lvova-Belova said her arrest warrant validated her work “helping the children of our country”.
In a statement, the court alleges the Russian president is “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 its pre-trial chamber found there were “reasonable grounds to believe” that the two suspects are responsible for the alleged war crimes and that Putin “bears individual criminal responsibility”.
Russia has brought thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia but has presented the programme as a humanitarian campaign to protect abandoned children and orphans in conflict zones.
Sky News’ international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn said the chances of Putin going on trial are low.
Assessing the warrants, Waghorn said there is “a long list of people” who have been indicted but never had their day in court.
“Unless the war goes very badly for him – he’s toppled from power and he’s handed over – it’s unlikely he’s going to face trial,” Waghorn said.
Read our report from December:
CCTV shows chilling moment Russian FSB agents and soldiers scour Ukrainian orphanage for children
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CCTV shows Russians hunt Ukraine orphans
How many children have been taken from Ukraine?
The exact number of children taken from Ukraine is unclear, with different organisations offering different estimates.
Waghorn said: “One respected human rights group in America estimates 6,000 children have been deported to Russia, the Ukrainians reckon it’s more like 16,000, and the Russians themselves have said since 2014, 700,000 children have been taken from Ukraine.”
Andriy Yermak, chief of the Ukrainian presidential staff, said Ukraine had cooperated closely with the ICC and was currently investigating over 16,000 cases of forced children deportation to Russia.
Ukraine has managed to secure the return of 308 children so far.
Waghorn suggests the motivation for the mass abductions is twofold – older children can be trained to serve in the military while younger children are beneficial for Russian propaganda purposes.
“We have seen Ukrainian children and orphans being paraded at events in Moscow recently and paraded for the Russian population [with Putin] saying we’re saving these children, we’re doing a good job, trying to to bolster their claim that they are effectively saving the Ukrainians from themselves,” Waghorn said.
Arrest warrant makes diplomatic solution more problematic
Sky News was the first to reveal video evidence of Russian soldiers searching a place of sanctuary in Ukraine looking for children.
In December we broadcast chilling CCTV footage from an orphanage in Kherson where 15 children were taken at gunpoint by the Russian military and aired claims far younger children suffered the same fate in another orphanage nearby.
One independent study claims 6,000 children have been taken by the Russians, the Ukrainians say the true figure is more than twice that amount.
Throughout this war there have been repeated reports of children being abducted, kidnapped or simply persuaded to go with the Russians and never to return.
We have seen some children resurface in events in Russia some of them presided over by President Putin himself, paraded by the Russians claiming to have saved them from the war and the Ukrainian government that Moscow claims to be run by Nazis.
Those allegations are now the substance of International Criminal Court arrest warrants that go to the very top of the Russian government along with President Putin’s children’s rights commissioner Mara Lvova-Belova.
She has been seen on Russian state TV weeping, she says with joy, having adopted Ukrainian orphans that she claims to have saved.
She has been unashamed in boasting about what is happening to Ukraine’s children. She claims to believe she is rescuing them.
Outside of Russia she is seen as running a system whereby Ukrainian children are effectively being trafficked into Russia.
The development is very significant. It makes far more problematic hopes that a diplomatic solution can be negotiated to this conflict.
It also puts pressure on countries who have been ambivalent about Russia’s invasion abstaining in UN votes condemning it and colluding in Moscow’s efforts to avoid sanctions.
ICC investigation of war crimes
In a press conference, the president of the ICC Piotr Hofmanski said the warrants were “an important moment in the process of justice”.
He also said that the judges dealing with the case “determined there are credible allegations against these persons for the alleged crime”.
“Their execution [of the warrants] depends on international cooperation,” he said.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan had opened an investigation a year ago into possible war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Ukraine.
Mr Khan highlighted during previous trips that he was also examining the targeting of civilian infrastructure and alleged crimes against children, who have special protection under the Geneva Convention.
Ukraine is not a member of the court but has granted the ICC jurisdiction over its territory.
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Zelenskyy has called the ICC’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for Putin a ‘historic’ one’
Ukrainian and international response
In his nightly address to the nation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it a “historic decision, from which historic responsibility will begin.”
“The head of a terrorist state and another Russian official have officially become suspects in a war crime,” he said.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly welcomed the ICC warrant which he said would “hold those at the top of the Russian regime, including Vladimir Putin, to account”.
“Work must continue to investigate the atrocities committed,” he wrote on Twitter.
White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said: “There is no doubt that Russia is committing war crimes and atrocities in Ukraine, and we have been clear that those responsible must be held accountable.”
Josep Borrell, the EU’s representative for foreign affairs and security policy, said the warrants are “just the start of holding Russia accountable for crimes and atrocities in Ukraine”.
After 18 months of surviving forced starvation and shelling by the paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the regional capital and symbolic battleground of Al Fashir is on the verge of full military collapse.
On Sunday, the RSF advanced into the heart of the city and captured the 6th Infantry Division of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in central Al Fashir after three days of intensified ground battles.
In propaganda videos shared on RSF social media channels, troops waved their assault rifles in the yard of the garrison and celebrated victory in front of a bullet-ridden wall marked with an emblem of the Sudanese military.
They claim to have taken over the city and completed their military control of the Darfur region.
Propaganda videos showing RSF troops waving rifles in the air in Al Fashir
Sudanese army soldiers, civilian resistance fighters and first responders have denounced the RSF’s declaration of full victory and say battles are ongoing to fend off the city’s capture.
A wedge of military-held territory remains on the western edge of Al Fashir where remaining civilians are squeezed in with troops fighting to push outwards and regain key sites lost to the RSF.
A map showing areas of Sudan controlled by SAF and RSF forces
“I left because all the residents and forces have been intensely concentrated in Al-Daraja Owla neighbourhood. It was too much and people started fleeing,” said aid worker and resident Adam al Rashid, who left Al Fashir on Saturday.
“The RSF was moving people out and attacking others. So many have been killed by gunfire and shelling from battles. It was clear this was coming. The RSF has been advancing on the 6th infantry division for three days.”
Around 5,000 people have fled Al Fashir since 23 October, according to initial assessments by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
Videos shared on RSF channels show masses fleeing on foot – some filmed by an RSF surveillance drone scattered across a field and others left in long, sombre queues as RSF soldiers yelled at them from inside their trucks.
Other videos show men of fighting age rounded up and kneeling on the ground as RSF troops yell at them, “You are all army”.
Smoke rises in Al Fashir, Sudan
Sources tell Sky News that those fleeing are facing mass arrests and extra-judicial killings on their way out.
There is currently a telecommunications blackout in Al Fashir. An ominous sign that has marked previous takeovers by the paramilitary group, including the city of Al Geneina where the United Nations (UN) accused the RSF of killing 10,000 to 15,000 people.
Read more:
‘Massacre’ in Sudan kills at least 53
Sudanese militia leader convicted of war crimes
“I am very concerned about the life of my relatives, the journalists and the doctors inside the city of Al Fashir. All of us saw what happened in Al Geneina and we are scared that will happen in Al Fashir too,” said Mohamed Zakarea, a journalist from Al Fashir who fled the city a year ago after five months of the RSF siege.
“The people are waiting for the Sudanese army – for the war planes and the air drops. If all of this doesn’t happen, then I’m afraid to say that Al Fashir is falling.”
World
Jamaica orders mandatory evacuations as hurricane set to bring 140mph winds and ‘catastrophic’ floods
A hurricane due to hit Jamaica and Cuba has intensified and could reach Category 5 – the highest – when it makes landfall either this evening or early on Tuesday, forecasters have warned.
It is expected to bring catastrophic floods, landslides and storm surges to the region, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
Jamaican authorities have urged residents to evacuate to one of 900 shelters set up across the island.
And on Sunday night, Prime Minister Andrew Holness issued mandatory evacuation orders for Port Royal in the capital Kingston and six other areas.
Storm Melissa currently has maximum sustained winds of up to 140mph (220kph) and is expected to strengthen as it heads towards Jamaica.
Desmond McKenzie, minister of local government, said: “Many of these communities will not survive this flooding.
“Kingston is low, extremely low… No community in Kingston is immune from flooding.”
This satellite image shows Melissa as a tropical storm on Saturday. She is gathering pace – fast. Pic National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, via AP
People in Port Royal are under mandatory orders to evacuate their homes. Pic: Reuters
Both international airports are closed.
The slow-moving storm has already killed at least three people in Haiti and a fourth person in the Dominican Republic, where another person remains missing.
Read more from Sky News:
24 hours in kill zone: Where Ukrainians fight for their lives
Key city in Sudan on brink of falling to paramilitary group
The NHC said Melissa is expected to bring 38cm (15 inches) to 76cm (30 inches) of rain to Jamaica and southern Hispaniola with a local maximum of more than a metre (40 inches).
Eastern Cuba is expected to receive 25cm (10 inches) to 38cm (15 inches), with local amounts of up to 51cm (20 inches).
There are warnings of extensive damage to infrastructure, power and communication outages, and the isolation of many communities in Jamaica.
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Jamaica ‘preparing for the worst’ ahead of hurricane
Dana Morris Dixon, Jamaica’s information minister, said the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency is ready to provide assistance, and several international partners have already pledged support.
“We’ve heard the rainfall numbers. They’re numbers we’ve never heard before,” she said.
A US warship has docked in the capital of Trinidad and Tobago, as US President Donald Trump increases military pressure on Venezuela.
The guided missile destroyer, USS Gravely, is in addition to the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford, which is moving closer to Venezuela.
USS Gerald R Ford arrives in Mallorca in early October. File pic: AP
President Trump has accused the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro, of being the leader of an organised crime gang but has not offered any evidence.
President Maduro has called the deployment of warships an attempt by the US government to “invent a new eternal war” against his country.
Government officials in Trinidad and Tobago and from the US said the warship will remain in Trinidad until Thursday for training exercises.
Venezuela’s government has since issued a statement condemning what it called a military provocation by Trinidad and Tobago and the US.
The country claimed it captured a group of mercenaries “with direct information of the American intelligence agency” who intended to carry out a false flag attack in the region.
The statement from vice president Delcy Rodriguez did not give any details or evidence of the alleged false flag attack.
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Is America about to invade Venezuela?
Jenifer Neidhart de Ortiz, the US Embassy’s charge d’affaires, said the exercises sought to “address shared threats like transnational crime and build resilience through training, humanitarian missions, and security efforts”.
A senior military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the move was only recently scheduled.
Read more: Inside Pablo Escobar’s home city where drugs are readily available
The presence of the ship is controversial for some.
“This is a warship in Trinidad, which will be anchored here for several days just miles off Venezuela when there’s a threat of war,” said David Abdulah, leader of the Movement for Social Justice political party.
“That’s an abomination.”
Read more:
US accused of ‘inventing a war’
Survivors reported after boat strike
US destroys ‘drug smuggling submarine’
Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is a supporter of the deadly US strikes on suspected drug boats in waters off Venezuela.
On Friday, the US secretary of war claimed six “narco-terrorists” had been killed in a strike on an alleged drug smuggling boat in the Caribbean Sea.
Trump may have another motive
The question is simple – is this really all about President Trump’s war on drugs in South America?
I doubt it. A sledgehammer to crack a nut that isn’t even there.
There are a few reasons to doubt the American government’s stated aim of wiping out these so-called “narco terrorist” gangs threatening the US from Venezuela, even after one takes out of the equation the sort of equipment the military is deploying – which isn’t what they would need for effective drug smuggling interdiction.
While the president acknowledges that the synthetic opioid fentanyl is a huge killer in the US (which it is) and is supplied by drug gangs (which it is), to blame Venezuela for fentanyl production is simply incorrect.
Mexican cartels produce fentanyl with precursors largely supplied from China, and it is from Mexico – America’s neighbour – that the fentanyl is smuggled directly into the US across its southern border.
Venezuela isn’t involved in this fentanyl business in any meaningful way, and I know this because I have reported from the Sinaloa cartel’s fentanyl production labs in Mexico.
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Trump’s war on drug cartels in South America
Pete Hegseth said his military had bombed a vessel, which he claimed was operated by Tren de Aragua – a Venezuelan gang that was designated a terror group by Washington in February.
Speaking during a White House news conference last week, Donald Trump argued the campaign against suspected smugglers from Venezuela would help tackle the opioid crisis in the US.
“Every boat that we knock out, we save 25,000 American lives. So every time you see a boat, and you feel badly you say, ‘Wow, that’s rough’. It is rough, but if you lose three people and save 25,000 people,” he said.
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Six ‘narco-terrorists’ killed in US strike
Some Democratic politicians have expressed concerns that the strikes risk dragging the US into a war with Venezuela because of their proximity to the South American country’s coast.
Others have condemned the attacks as extrajudicial killings that would not stand up in a court of law.
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