Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ms. Maria Aleksyevna Lvova-Belova have been called to answer for the war crimes committed against Ukraine. The International Criminal Court(ICC) has today 17 March 2023 under article articles 8(2)(a)(vii) and 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute, issued a warrant of arrest for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ms. Maria Aleksyevna Lvova-Belova for perpetuating war crimes against neighboring country Ukraine. Mr. Vladimir Putin has been accused of allegedly being responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation and transfer of population from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia. The war in Ukraine started on the 24th of February 2022 and there have been lots of lives lost and properties. The ICC believes that Mr. Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for having committed the crimes directly together with some of his associates, and for his failure to exercise control properly over civilians and military under his command who committed the crimes one of which is Ms. Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova who is the commissioner for Children’s Rights in the office of the President of the Russian Federation. She(Ms. Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova) has equally been accused of being responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of children and unlawful transfer of children from Ukraine to Russia.
The ICC believes that the warrant issued for their arrest should be done in secret to protect victims and witnesses and also to protect the investigation against any obstruction that might render the investigation unsuccessful.
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