International Criminal Court (ICC), has issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin. He is accused of kidnapping children from Ukraine.

It issued a warrant to Maria Alekseyevna Lvova–Belova, Russia , for her arrest on similar charges of war crimes.

According to the Kremlin, Russia considered the questions raised at the ICC “outrageous” and “unacceptable”.

They stated that warrants are “null & void” because Russia has not recognized the ICC or signed up for the Rome Statutes – a treaty which underpins the permanent war crimes tribunal in the world.

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Ms. Lvova-Belova stated that her arrest warrant was valid for her work “helping children of our country”.

The court stated that the Russian President was “responsible” for the war crimes of unlawful deportation (children) as well as the unlawful transfer (children) of population (children from occupied areas in Ukraine the Russian Federation.

According to the ICC, the pre-trial chamber concluded that there was “reasonable ground to believe” that two suspects were responsible for the alleged war crime and that Putin is “individually liable”.

Russia has sent thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia, but the program was presented as a humanitarian campaign to help abandoned children and orphans living in conflict zones.

Dominic Waghorn, Sky News’ international affairs editor, stated that Putin is unlikely to be tried.

Waghorn analyzed the warrants and found that there was “a long list” of people who were indicted, but not brought to court.

Waghorn stated that unless the war ends badly for him, he’s been toppled from power, and he has handed over, it’s unlikely that he will face trial.

View our December report:

Video shows Russian FSB agents and soldiers scouring Ukrainian orphanages for children

How many Ukrainian children were taken?

It is not known how many children were taken from Ukraine, and different organizations offer different estimates.

Waghorn stated: “One respected American human rights group estimates that 6,000 children were deported to Russia. The Ukrainians think it’s closer to 16,000. And the Russians themselves claim that 700,000 children were taken from Ukraine since 2014.

Chief of the Ukrainian presidential staff Andriy Yermak said that Ukraine had closely cooperated with the ICC. Currently, the ICC is investigating more than 16,000 cases in which children were forced to be deported to Russia.

So far, Ukraine has been able to return 308 children.

Waghorn suggests that the motivation behind mass abductions can be split into two parts. Older children can be trained for military service, while younger children can serve as propaganda tools for Russia.

Waghorn stated that he had seen orphans and children from Ukraine being paraded to events in Moscow for the Russian people recently. Putin claimed they were saving these children. He also said that they are doing a good job trying to support their claim that the Ukrainians are actually saving themselves.

ICC investigation into war crimes

Piotr Hofmanski, president of the ICC, stated that warrants are “an important moment” in the justice process.

He stated that the judges were able to find credible evidence against the accused for the crime.

He said, “Their execution [of warrants] depends upon international cooperation.”

Karim Khan, the ICC prosecutor, had opened an investigation a few years ago into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.

Khan mentioned that he had previously visited Afghanistan to examine the targeting of civilian infrastructure as well as alleged crimes against children. Children are under special protection under the Geneva Convention.

Ukraine is not a member but has given the ICC jurisdiction over its territory.

Ukrainian response

James Cleverly, Foreign Secretary, welcomed the ICC warrant, which he stated would “hold those at top of the Russian Regime, including Vladimir Putin to account”.

He wrote that “work must continue to examine the atrocities committed”, via Twitter.

Senior Ukrainian officials applauded ICC’s decision, with Ukraine’s prosecutor general Andriy Kolin stating that the decision was “historical for Ukraine and all international law systems”.

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukrainian Foreign Minister, wrote on Twitter: “Wheels are turning in justice: I applaud ICC’s decision to issue arrest warrants Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova Belova over the forcible transfer Ukrainian children.”

Josep Borrell is the EU representative for foreign affairs, security policy and international relations. He said that the warrants “only the beginning of holding Russia responsible for the crimes and atrocities committed in Ukraine”.