Vladimir Putin is wanted by the International Criminal Court after it accused him of committing war crimes in Ukraine.
The arrest order aims to bring him before a court in The Hague, Netherlands for allegedly smuggling Ukrainian minors into Russia from seized territory.
Human rights organizations and the UN have published reports describing a “vast network” of convoys and detention centers where Russian invaders routinely forcibly evict residents from their homes.
Allegations include children, the elderly and people with disabilities being separated from their families, as well as detainees being beaten, electrocuted and threatened with execution.
In one case discovered by Amnesty International, an 11-year-old boy from Mariupol was separated from his mum after they were captured last April and has not seen her since.
Many of the children end up thousands of miles away, banned from contacting their parents and ‘re-educated’ to become pro-Russia, according to the US-based Conflict Observatory.
A UN report in November said they are then placed up for adoption by Russian families and pressured into applying for Russian citizenship, which is sped up as officials falsely label them ‘orphans’.
In its warrant, the International Criminal Court (ICC) says there are ‘reasonable grounds to believe that President Putin bears individual criminal responsibility’ for the ‘unlawful transfer’ and ‘unlawful deportation’ of people.
He is accused of directly ordering the scheme and ‘failing to exercise control’ over the soldiers and and officials running it.
Also accused in the warrant is Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, who is also said to have been personally involved in the war crimes.
The chances of the pair willingly appearing before the ICC are virtually nil, but the warrant means they would be arrested if they ever set foot in any of the 123 countries which have signed up to its laws.
International Criminal Court issues arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin
Making Putin a ‘wanted man’ also sends a wake-up call to other war criminals that ‘their day in court may be coming, regardless of rank of position’, Balkees Jarrah of Human Rights Watch told Metro.co.uk.
The 70-year-old is arguably the most powerful target of the court in its 21-year history, and the most high-profile leader to be formally accused of war crimes since the Nuremberg trials of Nazi officials.
He is only the third Russian to be issued with such a warrant after a former general and former prison boss were indicted last year for torturing hostages and deporting civilians during the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia.