Vladimir Putin wanted by International Criminal Court – Moscow says decision ‘has no meaning’
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 very 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.
The numbers
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 Russians 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.
Ukrainian and international response
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.
Senior Ukrainian officials applauded the ICC, with Ukraine’s prosecutor general Andriy Kostin saying the decision was “historic for Ukraine and the entire international law system”.
“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,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter.
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”.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan for Israel to take full military control of the Gaza Strip has been condemned, amid fears a reoccupation could put the lives of Palestinians and the remaining Israeli hostages at risk.
Asked in a Fox News interview on Thursday if Israel would “take control of all of Gaza”, the prime minister replied: “We intend to, in order to assure our security, remove Hamas there, enable the population to be free of Gaza.”
Latest updates from war in Gaza
“We don’t want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter,” he continued. “We want to hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us and giving Gazans a good life.”
Israel already controls around 75% of Gaza and has largely sealed its borders.
To take full control, it would need to launch ground operations in the remaining areas that have not been destroyed, where most of Gaza’s two million population have sought refuge.
Israel’s security cabinet, which would need to approve the military operations, began a meeting on Thursday evening, but for now no official announcement has been made.
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Netanyahu on Israel’s plans for Gaza
Plan will ‘put hostages and soldiers in danger’
The plan has been criticised by many, including families of hostages being held by Hamas and a top Israeli Defence Force (IDF) official.
Einav Zangauker, the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, said Mr Netanyahu promised her that he would pursue a deal to free the hostages.
She said in a post on X: “Someone who talks about a comprehensive deal doesn’t go and conquer the Strip and put hostages and soldiers in danger.
“Netanyahu and his partners are about to condemn [Matan] to death.”
Israel’s military chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, has warned against occupying Gaza, saying it would endanger the hostages and put further strain on the IDF, according to Israeli media reports.
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In an illustration of the kind of opposition Israel could face internationally if it purses the plan, a Jordanian official aid Arabs would “only support what Palestinians agree and decide on”.
“Security in Gaza must be done through legitimate Palestinian institutions,” the source said.
“Arabs will not be agreeing to Netanyahu’s policies nor clean his mess.”
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Israeli hostage families sail near Gaza
At least 42 more Palestinians killed by Israeli fire, say hospitals
It comes after at least 42 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes and shootings across southern Gaza on Thursday, according to local hospitals.
At least 13 of those people were seeking aid in an Israeli military zone where UN aid convoys are regularly overwhelmed by desperate crowds and looters.
An Israeli soldier, standing next to an Israeli flag, looks out across Gaza. Pic: Reuters
Another two were killed on roads leading to sites run by the Israel- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies.
The GHF said there were no violent incidents at or near its sites on Thursday.
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The war in Gaza began when Hamas killed about 1,200 people – mostly civilians – in its attack on 7 October 2023 and abducted 251 others. They still hold approximately 50 of those hostages – with 20 believed to be alive – after most of the others were released in ceasefires or other deals.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between militants and civilians in its count.
Vladimir Putin has played down the possibility of a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying that while it is possible, certain conditions must be met.
The Russian president was responding to an American proposal of a trilateral meeting between him, the Ukrainian president and Donald Trump.
The idea was floated by Steve Witkoff, the US president’s envoy during talks with Mr Putin on Wednesday, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
War in Ukraine: Latest updates
Mr Ushakov said the three-way option was “simply mentioned by the American representative during the meeting in the Kremlin”.
He added, however: “This option was not specifically discussed.”
On the prospect of meeting Mr Zelenskyy, Vladimir Putin said: “I have already said many times that I have nothing against it in general – it is possible.”
However, he distanced himself from any such meeting happening soon, adding: “But certain conditions must be created for this. Unfortunately, we are still far from creating such conditions.”
Pic: AP
Mr Zelenskyy offered to speak to Vladimir Putin in May, challenging him to meet in Istanbul for talks on ending the war in Ukraine – an invitation the Russian leader declined.
While a trilateral meeting appears to be off the agenda, Mr Ushakov said an agreement had been reached for Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to meet “in the coming days”.
After the US president touted a “very good prospect” of the leaders meeting for Ukraine ceasefire talks, Mr Ushakov said on Thursday that Russian and American officials had started working on the details.
“At the suggestion of the American side, an agreement was essentially reached to hold a bilateral meeting at the highest level in the coming days,” he said.
“We are now beginning concrete preparations together with our American colleagues.”
Regarding a trilateral meeting, Mr Ushakov said: “We propose, first of all, to focus on preparing a bilateral meeting with Trump, and we consider it most important that this meeting be successful and productive.”
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Will Putin agree to Trump’s condition to meet Zelenskyy?
It would be the first time the two leaders have met since Mr Trump returned to office, and follows a three-hour meeting between Mr Putin and Steve Witkoff in Moscow on Wednesday.
Following the meeting, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it appeared that Russia was “more inclined to a ceasefire”.
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The Ukrainian president said he planned to speak on Thursday to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, as well as contacts from France and Italy.
He said he planned to discuss a ceasefire, a leaders’ summit and long-term security, adding: “Ukraine has never wanted war and will work toward peace as productively as possible.”
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A poll from Gallup suggests 69% of Ukrainians support a negotiated end to the war with Russia – an almost complete reversal from 2022, when 73% favoured fighting until victory.
Most said they were sceptical the war would end soon, with 68% saying they believed it was unlikely that active fighting would stop within the next 12 months.
World
Trump vowed to end Ukraine war in first 24 hours of his presidency – nearly 200 days in, could he be close?
Seven hours is a long time in US politics.
At 10am, Donald Trump accused Russia of posing a threat to America’s national security.
By 5pm, Mr Trump said there was a “good prospect” of him meeting Vladimir Putin “soon”.
There had, he claimed, been “great progress” in talks between his special envoy Steve Witkoff and the Russian president.
It’s difficult to gauge the chances of a meeting between the two leaders without knowing what “great progress” means.
Is Russia “inclined” towards agreeing a ceasefire, as Ukraine’s president now claims?
Is Mr Putin prepared to meet with his Ukrainian foe, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, too?
The very fact that we’re asking those questions suggests something shifted on a day when there was no expectation of a breakthrough.
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Mr Trump repeatedly vowed to end the war within 24 hours of becoming president.
On day 198 of his presidency, he might, just might, be one step closer to achieving that.
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