Marking the ninth anniversary of his illegal annexation of Crimea, Russian president Vladimir Putin visited the occupied Ukrainian peninsula on March 18. His visit came a day after the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague issued an arrest warrant against him.
Putin and his children’s commissioner, Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, face charges concerning the alleged illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia. Symbolic as it might be for now, the warrant signals a determination against impunity. It points to the enormous scale of the abuses committed by Russian forces and their proxies for which Putin bears ultimate responsibility.
The deportation of Ukrainian children from Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine to Russia is in clear contravention of the fourth Geneva convention. This deals with the protection of civilians during war – to which Russia is a party.
