17 March 2023 , 16:16
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A top Russian politician has responded to an arrest warrant put out for Vladimir Putin with a 'toilet paper' quip.
Putin's close ally and former Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, reacted in jest at the International Criminal Court (ICC) making the country's warmongering leader a wanted man.
Medvedev, who held the top job in the Kremlin between 2008 and 2012 before handing it back to Putin, tweeted: "The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin.
"No need to explain WHERE this paper should be used."
The warrant relates to Putin's war crimes over his involvement in the abduction of children from Ukraine.
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Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, almost 14,000 Ukrainian children have been abducted, Ukraine's presidential advisor for children's rights, Daria Herasymchuk, reported last month.
Putin with former Russian President and PM Dmitry Medvedev (Getty Images)The ICC said in a statement that Putin bore individual criminal responsibility.
Medvedev is a staunchly loyal servant to Putin. He is currently the Deputy Chair of the Security Council of the Russian Federation and was Prime Minister under the bloodthirsty President until 2020.
His own single term as President was reffered to by some as "government by tandem" or "tandemocracy" as he and the powerful, popular Putin, who was then serving as PM, were considered to be ruling together in an unprecedented situation. Many Russians considered Putin to secretly still be wielding the most power.
The 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.
Moscow has previously said it does not recognise the jurisdiction of the ICC and denied allegations of war crimes during the invasion.
“We do not recognise this court; we do not recognise its jurisdiction,” Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told journalists in Moscow on Tuesday.
A possible trial of any Russians at the ICC remains a long way off, as Moscow does not recognise the court's jurisdiction - a position reaffirmed today by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
"The decisions of the International Criminal Court have no meaning for our country, including from a legal point of view," she said.
"Russia isn’t a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and is under no obligation arising from it."
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Ukrainian evacuees queue as they wait for further transport at the Medyka border crossing last March (AFP via Getty Images)But Ukrainian officials were jubilant.
Ukraine's Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said: "Now, if Putin leaves Russia, he would be arrested and surrendered to ICC.
"World leaders will think twice before shaking his hand or sitting with Putin at the negotiating table. It’s another clear signal to the world that the Russian regime is criminal."
On Monday, prosecutors at the ICC said they would formally open two war crimes cases and issue arrest warrants for several Russians deemed responsible for the mass abduction of Ukrainian children and the targeting of Ukrainian civilian infrastructure.
Children take shelter during an air raid alert in Dnipro region, Ukraine, in FebruaryOn Thursday, a UN-backed inquiry cited Russian attacks against civilians in Ukraine, including systematic torture and killing in occupied regions, among potential issues that amount to war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity.
The large investigation also found crimes committed against Ukrainians on Russian territory, including deported Ukrainian children who were prevented from reuniting with their families, a “filtration” system aimed at singling out Ukrainians for detention, and torture and inhumane detention conditions.
Today, they have put warmonger Putin's face on the crimes.
A full statement from the ICC reads: "Mr Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, born on 7 October 1952, President of the Russian Federation, is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of the population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.
Ukrainian soldiers come back from Bakhmuts in Chasiv Yar, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)"The crimes were allegedly committed in Ukrainian-occupied territory at least from 24 February 2022. There are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for the aforementioned crimes,
"(i) for having committed the acts directly, jointly with others and/or through others and (ii) for his failure to exercise control properly over civilian and military subordinates who committed the acts, or allowed for their commission and who was under his effective authority and control, pursuant to superior responsibility."