'First step in restoring justice': Ukraine on ICC's arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin

After the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday, March 17 said that it has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes, accusing him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine, Zelenskyy's office reportedly said that the ICC's warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin was just the beginning. 

According to media reports, Ukraine's Presidency on Friday, March 17 said, "The International Criminal Court's decision to issue an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin was only the first step in restoring justice in the aftermath of Russia's invasion." 

Ukraine's presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak said, "The Hague chamber of the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin. This is just the beginning."

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in a statement said, "Putin is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation."

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has also issued a warrant for the arrest of Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, the Commissioner for Children's Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, on similar allegations.

The ICC said that its pre-trial chamber found there were “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.”

Notably, it was the first time the global court has issued a warrant against a leader of one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

'Putin's arrest warrant is outrageous and unacceptable': Kremlin spokesperson

Hitting back at the ICC, a Kremlin spokesman said, "Putin's arrest warrant is outrageous and unacceptable, ICC decision is legally void since Moscow does not recognise the Hague-based court's jurisdiction."

"Russia, just like a number of different countries, does not recognise the jurisdiction of this court and so from a legal point of view, the decisions of this court are void," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told media reporters.