International Criminal Court arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova significant person Maria Lvova-Belova
On 17 March 2023, following an investigation of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russian Commissioner for Children's Rights, alleging responsibility for the war crime of unlawful deportation and transfer of children during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The warrant against Putin is the first against the leader of a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.The 123 member states of the ICC are obliged to detain and transfer Putin and Lvova-Belova if either sets foot on their territory.Charges
According to the Prosecutor of the ICC, Karim A. A. Khan KC, the charges against Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova are based on reasonable grounds that the two are responsible for "unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation, contrary to article 8(2)(a)(vii) and article 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute".The ICC identified "at least hundreds of Ukrainian children taken from orphanages and children’s care homes" by Russian forces. According to Karim Khan, the court's chief prosecutor, these deportations, done with the intention to permanently remove the children from their own country, were a violation of the Geneva Convention and amounted to war crimes.