Zelenskiy hails 'historic' ICC arrest warrant, blames Putin for child deportations
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday (March 17) that the International Criminal Court's decision to issue an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin was historic and blamed Putin for the deportation of thousands of Ukrainian children.
"This is a historic decision that will lead to historic accountability," he said in a nightly video address.
The real number of deported children could be much higher than 16,000, he said, and added that their deportations constituted a policy of 'state evil' "which starts exactly with the top official of this state."
The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday issued an arrest warrant against Putin, accusing him of the war crime of illegal deportation of children from Ukraine. The court also issued a warrant for Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia's Commissioner for Children's Rights, on the same charges.
