President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called the decision of the International Criminal Court to arrest President Vladimir Putin historic, from which historical responsibility will begin. Zelenskyy said this in his traditional evening video address, Ukrainian News Agency reports.
"Today we have a significant decision of international justice. In a case that has a real perspective. The International Criminal Court issued a warrant for Putin's arrest. A historic decision from which historical responsibility will begin. The head of a terrorist state and another Russian official officially became suspects in a war crime. The deportation of Ukrainian children is the illegal transfer of thousands of our children to the territory of a terrorist state," he said.
Zelenskyy noted that more than 16,000 cases of forced deportation of Ukrainian children by occupiers have already been recorded in criminal proceedings investigated by Ukrainian law enforcement officers, but the real number of deportees can be much higher. According to him, so far it has been possible to return just over 300 children, of all those who were taken out by force from Ukraine.
"It would be impossible to carry out such a criminal operation without the order of the top leader of the terrorist state. Separating children from families, depriving them of any opportunity to contact their relatives, hide children in Russia, distribute them around remote regions - all this is obviously Russian state policy, state decisions and state evil that begins with the first official of this state," the President said.
Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to the team of prosecutor Karim Khan and the International Criminal Court for their integrity and readiness to really prosecute those who are guilty.
He stressed that Ukraine will continue to do everything for the return of every Ukrainian and for the real responsibility of all those responsible for illegal deportation - from the head of the terrorist state to all performers.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on Friday, March 17, the International Criminal Court announced the decision to issue a warrant for the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Commissioner for Children’s Affairs Maria Lvova-Belova. They are suspected of committing the war crime of illegally deporting children from the occupied territory of Ukraine to Russia at least since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation.
Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin explained that the warrant of the International Criminal Court for Putin's arrest means that he should be arrested outside the Russian Federation by all countries that have ratified the Rome Statute.
According to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine, during the full-scale war, Russia deported more than 16,000 Ukrainian children, 308 of them were returned.
Who we are: About us, Contacts. How we write news and our principles: Editorial code. We did our best. If you found this valuable – please support us.
To request a correction, please send an email.