“There are 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,” the court’s pre-trial judges assessed.

The judges considered that the warrants are secret in order to protect victims and witnesses and also to safeguard the investigation, adding: “Nevertheless, mindful that the conduct addressed in the present situation is allegedly ongoing, and that the public awareness of the warrants may contribute to the prevention of the further commission of crimes, the Chamber considered that it is in the interests of justice to authorize the Registry to publicly disclose the existence of the warrants, the name of the suspects, the crimes for which the warrants are issued, and the modes of liability as established by the Chamber.”

Russia has said it does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

“Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and does not bear obligations under it. Russia does not cooperate with this body, and possible warrants for arrest coming from the International Court of Justice will be legally null and void for us,” the foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said on her Telegram channel.

Ukraine welcomed the ICC decision, saying that it was just an initial step in restoring justice over Russia’s invasion.

“The international criminal court in The Hague has issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and his children’s rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova. It's just the beginning,” Ukraine’s presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak wrote on Twitter.

Hundreds of Ukrainian children have disappeared since Russia’s February 2022 invasion, according to official Ukrainian statistics. (ILKHA)