Judges from the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued on Friday its first arrest warrants related to the war in Ukraine, for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights. The judges alleged that the two are responsible for the war crimes of “unlawful deportation” and “unlawful transfer” of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia.
Ukraine live briefing: Turkey backs Finland’s NATO bid; ICC issues arrest warrant for Putin
The move is largely symbolic: Moscow does not accept the jurisdiction of the ICC, and international law experts say it’s unlikely, barring a major political change in Russia, for Putin to end up in front of the court.
Turkey is set to start the process to ratify Finland’s accession to NATO, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday at a news conference in Ankara, making the announcement after talks with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto.
Finland requires unanimous approval by Turkey and all other NATO members to join the alliance. Along with Sweden, it announced its intention to join following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. Erdogan is still expected to withhold approval of Sweden’s bid, and Sweden’s prime minister has said it is increasingly likely that Finland would join NATO first. In a statement, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan praised Turkey’s move and called on Ankara to ratify Sweden’s accession protocols as well.
Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.
ICC issues arrest warrants
- Putin issued a decree last May to make it easy for Russians to adopt Ukrainian children. Kostin said Friday Ukrainian officials are investigating more than 16,000 incidents of forcible deportation of Ukrainian children. Lvova-Belova, who reports to Putin directly, has been the official face of Moscow’s effort to bring Ukrainian children to Russian territory.
Number of children’s camp
facilities in Russia
According to a report by the Yale School of Public Health, the Russian government is operating 43 facilities that have held at least 6,000 children from Ukraine.
6 camps
1
Arctic
Ocean
Crimea
UKR.
Moscow
TUR.
RUSSIA
KAZAK.
MONGOLIA
IRAN
CHINA
Data as of Feb. 14. Crimea was annexed
by Russia in 2014. Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine
are self-proclaimed separatist republics in
eastern Ukraine.
Source: Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale School of
Public Health
JÚLIA LEDUR/THE WASHINGTON POST
Number of children’s camp
facilities in Russia
According to a report by the Yale School of Public Health, the Russian government is operating 43 facilities that have held at least 6,000 children from Ukraine.
6 camps
1
Arctic
Ocean
UKR.
Moscow
Crimea
RUSSIA
TUR.
KAZAK.
IRAN
MONGOLIA
CHINA
Data as of Feb. 14. Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014.
Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine are self-proclaimed separatist
republics in eastern Ukraine.
Source: Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale School of Public Health
JÚLIA LEDUR/THE WASHINGTON POST
Number of children’s camp facilities in Russia
According to a report by the Yale School of Public Health, the Russian government is operating 43 facilities that have held at least 6,000 children from Ukraine.
6 camps
1
Arctic
Ocean
UKR.
Moscow
Crimea
RUSSIA
TURKEY
KAZAKHSTAN
MONGOLIA
IRAN
CHINA
Data as of Feb. 14. Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014. Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine
are self-proclaimed separatist republics in eastern Ukraine.
Source: Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale School of Public Health
JÚLIA LEDUR/THE WASHINGTON POST
- In an address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the warrants an indictment of Russia’s “state policy, state decisions, state evil.”
- The warrants could make it difficult for those named to travel to countries that cooperate with the court.
Other key developments
- Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to travel to Moscow next week, to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his first visit since the war began. According to the Kremlin, Xi’s state visit will take place from March 20 to 22. While China has maintained that it is neutral in the Ukraine war, it has offered diplomatic support for Russia and accused Washington of turning the conflict into a “proxy” war. Beijing said Xi’s visit would be one of “peace, cooperation and friendship,” emphasizing that China would encourage peace talks
- Slovakia joined Poland in announcing it will supply Kyiv with fighter jets, Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger said Friday. Heger said his government approved a decision to send 13 Soviet-era MiG-29 jets, a day after Poland said it would send four in the coming days. Agreement to transfer the fighter jets marks a new level of Western aid to Ukraine, and Poland and Slovakia have called on other countries to follow their lead as part of an international coalition.
- Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu gave state awards to the pilots who forced down a U.S. drone earlier this week, according to his ministry, which claimed the pilots had prevented the drone from “violating” the airspace of Russian military activity in Ukraine. However, U.S. officials said the drone was flying over international waters of the Black Sea when it was forced down, and they have released footage of the collision. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters Wednesday that the United States is investigating the incident. He called the Russian pilots’ actions “reckless and unsafe.”
Battleground updates
- Russian forces and fighters from the mercenary Wagner Group have gained footholds on the western side of Bakhmut, the British Defense Ministry said. Wagner’s founder claimed to have taken full control of the eastern side of Bakhmut, which is divided by a river, earlier this month. The town in eastern Ukraine has been the site of months of fierce fighting, but the British ministry said in its Friday update that Russian offensives there were at “some of the lowest rates” since January. It added that Moscow is likely to resume its pace “once personnel and munition stocks are replenished.”
- Russian attacks in southern Donetsk continue. Russian forces have focused recent attacks in strategic areas around Vuhledar, officials have said, in a bloody fight resembling battles of attrition seen in the east. The city and the region have been bombarded by artillery in the struggle for the important rail and highway lines that lead into Crimea. Russian forces escalated attacks in the last two weeks, sending groups of about 10 to 15 soldiers sometimes supported by a handful of tanks, said Col. Oleksiy Dmytrashkivskyi, a spokesman for forces in the area. The Russian assaults in Vuhledar have slowed in recent days, the U.K. defense ministry said Thursday, after “extremely costly” attacks since January.
- A U.N.-backed inquiry found evidence that Russian authorities committed human rights violations, many of which “amount to war crimes,” according to a report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine. The commission was established a year ago by the U.N. Human Rights Council. Russia’s use of torture and attacks on energy-related infrastructure “may amount to crimes against humanity,” the report’s authors wrote.
- A Ukrainian commander was demoted after saying in an interview with The Post that ill-trained troops were weakening Ukraine’s position on the battlefield. He later quit his position, The Post reported. The commander said some troops went into battle without having thrown a grenade or knowing how to handle weapons. His supporters said he should be reinstated and that the military leadership should be willing to hear difficult truths.
Global impact
- Russia is using a fleet of older, poorly insured tankers to bypass Western sanctions on its fossil fuels, The Post reported. That has raised fears, especially among countries on the Baltic Sea, of a potentially catastrophic accident or oil spill. The safety concerns were alarming enough for Finnish authorities to increase drills and training for an emergency response to an environmental catastrophe.
- The Ukraine-Russia grain deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, meant to alleviate global hunger, is set to expire Saturday. Moscow has said it would be willing to extend for 60 days, while Kyiv is seeking 120 days.
- “While Ireland is a militarily neutral country, we’re not politically neutral in the face of violations of international law and human rights,” Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said in remarks on Capitol Hill during a visit to Washington Friday. He decried Russia’s “brutal invasion” of Ukraine.
From our correspondents
Loss of U.S. drone clipped by Russian jet was a twist in a broader pattern: Russia’s forced downing of a U.S. drone over the Black Sea this week shed light on a little-known geopolitical reality, Claire Parker reports — close calls between U.S. and Russian aircraft aren’t unusual.
But collisions during intercepts are rare, even when involving drones. Analysts and officials warn that the war in Ukraine has only heightened the stakes, and the incident has fueled concern about the potential for the war in Ukraine to escalate into direct conflict between the two superpowers.
Alex Horton and Missy Ryan contributed to this report.