THE INTERNATIONAL Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The court alleges that Putin is responsible for war crimes because of his alleged involvement in the abductions of children from Ukraine.
It says the crimes were committed in Ukraine from at least 24 February 2022 - when Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
Moscow has denied allegations of war crimes during the invasion.
The court said in a statement that Putin is "responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of children and that of unlawful transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation."
It also issued a warrant on Friday for the arrest of Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, the commissioner for children's rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, on similar allegations.
The ICC said that its pre-trial chamber found there were "reasonable grounds to believe that each suspect bears responsibility for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population and that of unlawful transfer of population from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation, in prejudice of Ukrainian children."
However, the warrant is unlikely to have much impact.
"The arrest warrants hold no significance for our country, including legally," said Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for the Russian foreign ministry, when word of the warrants being issued first emerged.
This is due to the fact that the ICC lacks the authority to apprehend suspects and can only exert its jurisdiction within nations that have ratified the treaty that established the court.
Given that Russia has not signed the agreement, it is improbable that any extradition will take place.
