How CAN Putin be arrested for war crimes? Unlikely circumstances that could see him held to account

The International Criminal Court has issued a warrant for the arrest of Vladimir Putin amid accusations of war crimes during his faltering invasion of Ukraine.

Karim Khan, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, today said hundreds of children have been unlawfully taken from orphanages and children’s homes in occupied areas of Ukraine and transported to Russia to be given to new families.

The ICC’s warrant now obligates its 123 member states to arrest the Russian president and transfer him to The Hague for trial should he set foot on their territory.

But the Kremlin today slammed the court’s decision as ‘outrageous and unacceptable’, instead insisting any decisions of the ICC are ‘null and void’ with respect to Russia as Moscow does not recognise the court’s jurisdiction. 

Its stance inevitably casts doubts over how Putin can be arrested, with the possibility of a trial remaining a long way off.

Moscow does not recognise the court’s jurisdiction and does not extradite its nationals – a position reaffirmed on Friday by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova in a first reaction to the warrants.

‘The decisions of the International Criminal Court have no meaning for our country, including from a legal point of view,’ she said.

Even the ICC’s president Piotr Hofmanski admitted that while the court’s judges have issued the warrants, it will be up to the international community to enforce them.

Source of data and images: dailymail