Russian President Vladimir Putin has received the official status of a suspect in a war crime – the illegal deportation and displacement of Ukrainian children. The International Criminal Court has issued a warrant for his arrest, Prosecutor General of Ukrane Andriy Kostin has said.

"Now the Russian president has the official status of a suspect in an international crime - the illegal deportation and displacement of Ukrainian children. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Russian President Putin and Russia's Commissioner for Children's Rights Lvova-Belova," Kostin said on his Facebook page.

He said this means that during Putin's stay outside Russia he should be detained and brought to court, and "world leaders will think three times before shaking his hand or sitting down with him at the negotiating table."

"The world has received a signal that the Russian regime is criminal and its leadership and henchmen will be held accountable. This is a historic decision for Ukraine and the entire system of international law," the Prosecutor General said.

He expressed his gratitude to ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan, stressing that the Prosecutor General;s Office (PGO) daily closely cooperates with the ICC in the investigation of crimes committed against Ukraine.

"In particular, on the forcible deportation of children, the PGO handed over to the ICC more than 40 volumes of materials, more than 1,000 pages. In total, in the proceedings in which the PGO exercises procedural guidance, the deportation of more than 16,000 children from Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv and Kherson regions was recorded. But the real figure could be much higher. There is no doubt that this is a planned policy of Russia aimed at destroying Ukraine as a state and Ukrainians as a nation. By kidnapping our children, Russia is literally stealing our future," Kostin said.

At the same time, according to him, law enforcement officers have already managed to return home 308 Ukrainian children.

"We must return them all. And condemn in Ukrainian and international courts everyone involved in the forced deportation of Ukrainian children. As well as other war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and a serious international crime – aggression," the Prosecutor General said.

"Today's decision is a historic step. But this is only the beginning of a long path to restoring justice. And we must go this path together with the entire free world. We expect all states that consider themselves part of the civilized world to take appropriate steps to attract suspects of international crimes to responsibility. Even if they are the top leaders of the Russian terrorist regime. Especially if they are the top leaders of the Russian terrorist regime," he said.

According to the ICC website, Vladimir Putin, born on October 7, 1952, is the President of the Russian Federation, "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 (under articles 8(2)(a)(vii) and 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute)."

It is indicated that the crimes were allegedly committed in Ukrainian occupied territory at least from February 24, 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 (article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute), 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 were under his effective authority and control, pursuant to superior responsibility (article 28(b) of the Rome Statute)," the court said.

In addition, the ICC believes that Maria Lvova-Belova, Commissioner for Children's Rights under the Russian President, born on October 25, 1984, is also allegedly responsible for the war crime of illegal deportation of children and their illegal transfer from the occupied territories of Ukraine to the Russian Federation (according to Articles 8(2)(a)(vii) and 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute).

"There are reasonable grounds to believe that Ms Lvova-Belova bears individual criminal responsibility for the aforementioned crimes, for having committed the acts directly, jointly with others and/or through others (article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute)," the court said.

The ICC considered the warrants to be classified for the protection of victims and witnesses and for the security of the investigation.

However, the ICC suggests that informing the public about warrants can help prevent further crimes.

The aforementioned arrest warrants were issued on the basis of applications filed by the prosecutor's office on February 22, 2023.