According to Ukrainian human rights activists, since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, about 1.6 million Ukrainian children have been under Russian control, either deported or forced to live in occupation.
This was reported by the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak.
According to him, on 17 March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Children's Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova. The ICC suspects them of the illegal deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children.
‘This was the first step towards justice, where the world recognised that Russia is pursuing a planned policy of abduction and assimilation of Ukrainian children,’ says Yermak.
Despite the arrest warrant for Putin, Russia continues to assimilate and Russify Ukrainian children. The Russian Federation systematically re-educates Ukrainian children through propaganda and military programmes for them, and automatically grants Russian citizenship to all children in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, the head of the Prosecutor General's Office adds.
- On 17 March, the Pre-Trial Division of the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Putin and Lvova-Belova. They are accused of illegally deporting children and illegally transferring them from the occupied territories of Ukraine to the territory of the Russian Federation.
- The warrant means that Putin must be arrested in the territory of countries that have ratified the Rome Statute.