Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, his Commissioner for Children's Rights, have been formally accused of violating the laws of war by forcibly removing Ukrainian children and deporting them to Russia. The International Criminal Court released an arrest warrant citing that it believes Putin bears individual responsibility for these war crimes.

The warrant states that there are "reasonable grounds to believe Mr. Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for the aforementioned crimes" and that the criminal acts consist of an “unlawful deportation of population (children) and the unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine.” According to the International Criminal Court, Putin and Lvova-Belova’s actions violate the Geneva Conventions.

Although the Russian government claims that the policy is a humanitarian move, aimed at saving Ukrainian children from a war zone, the ICC has declared the policy as a systematic campaign to erase Ukraine’s