The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s children commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova on March 17.
They were accused of the war crime of unlawful deportation and transfer of children from Ukraine to Russia. As of April 5, according to the Ukrainian government website, 19,384 children have been deported to Russia since the start of the war in 2022.
Experts have been quick to point out the difficulties that the ICC and the Ukrainian government will run into in proving war crimes and trying to hold those responsible accountable, as well as returning deported children to Ukraine.