The International Criminal Court (ICC) is expected to issue the first arrest warrants for Russian individuals for war crimes committed in Ukraine. The International Criminal Court (ICC) is expected to issue the first arrest warrants for Russian individuals in the investigation launched into the allegation that Russia committed war crimes in Ukraine. ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan is holding a preliminary hearing, based on the evidence gathered so far, of a large number of Russians involved in kidnapping children from Ukraine to Russia and targeting Ukrainian civil infrastructure, a source familiar with the matter told the media on condition of anonymity. He said he would ask the judge to issue an arrest warrant. Noting that it is not clear for which Russian individuals or when Prosecutor Khan will request an arrest warrant, the source stated that the arrest warrants may also include the crime of "genocide". Prosecutor Khan launched an investigation into possible war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Ukraine a year ago, and had visited Ukraine four times. Khan emphasized the crimes against children and the targeting of civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. Yale University researchers, in a report they prepared last month, stated that Russia is keeping at least 6,000 Ukrainian children in facilities in Russia-occupied Crimea.UN defines transfer of children to another place as genocide The UN Genocide Convention defines the act of "transferring children from a group to another group" as one of five acts that can be prosecuted as genocide.
Russia denies war crimes allegationsRussia, which vehemently denies committing war crimes in Ukraine, argues that it does not deliberately target civilians and offers humanitarian aid to those who voluntarily want to flee Ukraine.
Russia denies war crimes allegationsRussia, which vehemently denies committing war crimes in Ukraine, argues that it does not deliberately target civilians and offers humanitarian aid to those who voluntarily want to flee Ukraine.