By Ruzeki, Shadow News
The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The ICC alleges President Putin is responsible for war crimes, and has focused its claims on the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia.
The ICC believes the crimes were committed in Ukraine since February 24, 2022 - when Russia started its special military operations.
Moscow has denied the allegations and labelled the arrest warrants as outrageous.
It is highly unlikely that much will come of the move - the ICC has no powers to arrest suspects, and can only exercise jurisdiction within its member countries - and Russia is not one of them.
However it could affect the president in other ways, such as being unable to travel to some countries.
In a statement, the ICC confirmed it had reasonable grounds to believe President Putin committed the criminal acts directly, as well as working with others. It also accused Mr Putin of failing to use his presidential powers to stop children being deported.
The US President Joe Biden said the arrest warrant of President Putin is justified. Despite the US not being a signed member of the ICC, it believes Mr Putin committed war crimes and should face trial at the Hague.
Russia's commissioner for children's rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, is also wanted by the ICC for the same crimes.
Maria Lvova-Belova has been accused of supporting efforts to indoctrinate Ukrainian children taken to Russia.
The ICC said it initially considered keeping the arrest warrants a secret, but decided to make them public in the event that it stopped further crimes from being committed.
The ICC prosecutor Karim Khan told the press that children can't be treated as the spoils of war, they can't be deported.
Reactions to the warrants came within minutes of the announcement, with Kremlin officials instantly dismissing them.
Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said any of the court's decisions were null and void and the former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev compared the warrant to toilet paper.
The Russian opposition welcomed the ICC announcement. Led by a close ally of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Mr Ivan Zhdanov said in a tweet that it was a symbolic step but an important one.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated he was grateful to Mr Khan and the criminal court for their decision to press charges against aggressive Russia.
The Ukraine's Prosecutor Andriy Kostin emphasized the decision was historic for Ukrainians and that it was only the beginning.
Russia is not a signed member of the ICC therefore, there is no chance that President Vladimir Putin or Maria Lvova-Belova will appear in the dock at The Hague.
The ICC relies on the cooperation of governments to arrest people. According to international experts on politics and relations, Russia is not going to cooperate with the ICC nonsense.
However Mr Khan pointed out that no-one thought Slobodan Milosevic, the Serbian leader who went on trial for war crimes in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo, would end up in The Hague.
While Putin is the head of a G20 nation, and about to shake hands with China's Xi Jinping in an historic meeting, Mr Putin is now also a wanted man, and this might place restrictions on which countries he can visit.
On August, South Africa will host the 15th summit of BRICS nations, which include Brazil, Russia, India, China and the host- South Africa. South Africa is a signed member of the ICC, it is unlikely that South Africa will arrest President Vladimir Putin because of its deep relations with Moscow.
Some experts have said the ICC is on the way to losing members, which have strong ties with Russia.
This developing story shall be updated as soon as new information is available.
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