News Feed

Minister: Germany will have to arrest Putin if he enters its territory

1 min read

Germany will have to arrest Russian dictator Vladimir Putin if he enters German territory and if the International Criminal Court asks contracting states for enforcement, the country's Justice Minister Marco Buschmann has said, Bild reported on March 18.

“I expect the ICC to quickly approach Interpol and the contracting states and ask them for enforcement,” Buschmann said.

On March 17, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia's children's rights commissioner overseeing the forced deportations of Ukrainian children. It made Putin the third incumbent state leader to be issued an ICC arrest warrant, after Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir and Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi.

The ICC’s decision obligates 123 countries that are ICC members to arrest Putin and send him to The Hague if he enters their territory.

According to a statement put out by the ICC, there are “reasonable grounds to believe” that Putin is directly responsible for overseeing the forced kidnapping and relocation of over 16,000 Ukrainian children since the start of the full-scale invasion. President Volodymyr Zelensky said the actual number might be much higher.

Russian forces have unlawfully transferred or deported thousands of Ukrainian civilians to Russia, violating the Geneva Conventions.

On March 6, Ukraine’s National Information Bureau reported that Russia had abducted over 16,000 Ukrainian children. Only 125 of them have been returned to Ukraine.

Avatar
The Kyiv Independent news desk

We are the news team of the Kyiv Independent. We are here to make sure our readers get quick, essential updates about the events in Ukraine. Feel free to contact us via email with feedback and news alerts.

Read more
News Feed

"It is legitimate and lawful for China to conduct normal economic, trade and energy cooperation with all countries around the world, including Russia," China's Foreign Ministry said in response to question about Russian oil purchases posed by Bloomberg. "We will continue to adopt reasonable energy security measures in accordance with our national interests."

"The highly anticipated meeting between myself, as President of the United States of America, and President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, will take place next Friday, August 15, 2025, in the Great State of Alaska," Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that "further details will follow."

Video

At the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, foreigners flocked to Ukraine to join its defense against Russian forces. More than three years later, the foreign fighters who remain are a different breed — driven by a deep commitment to Ukraine.

Show More