Ukraine war: ICC 'undeterred' by arrest warrant for chief prosecutor

The International Criminal Court says it is "undeterred" by Russia putting its main authoritative connected a wanted list.

It comes 2 months aft the ICC's Karim Khan issued an apprehension warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In a connection connected Saturday, the tribunal said the determination was an effort to undermine its "lawful mandate to guarantee accountability for the gravest crimes".

Russia, which is not an ICC member, antecedently described the warrant against Mr Putin arsenic being "void".

Mr Khan, a British lawyer, issued the apprehension warrant for President Putin successful March. It alleged helium is liable for warfare crimes, and has focused its claims connected the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia.

A warrant was besides issued for Russia's kid rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova connected akin charges.

More than 16,000 children are thought to person been forcibly transferred to Russia from Ukraine since the warfare began, according to officials successful Kyiv.

The ICC said astatine the clip determination were tenable grounds to judge some Mr Putin and Ms Lvova-Belova bore idiosyncratic transgression responsibility.

The Kremlin's investigative committee successful crook announced this week that it would statesman an probe into Mr Khan for the "criminal prosecution of a idiosyncratic known to beryllium innocent".

In a statement connected Saturday, the Hague-based ICC said it was "aware and profoundly acrophobic astir unwarranted and unjustified coercive measures reportedly taken against ICC officials".

Branding the measures "unacceptable", the tribunal said it would not beryllium prevented from continuing to "deliver connected its autarkic mandate".

Mr Khan is yet to remark connected the enactment against him.

Meanwhile, the peculiar typical of the United Nations secretary-general for children and equipped conflict, Virginia Gamba, came nether abstracted scrutiny aft she reportedly met with Ms Lvova-Belova successful Moscow.

The Russian was quoted by Reuters quality bureau arsenic saying the speech was "constructive and sincere".

Rights groups and elder officials took issue, though, with immoderate suggesting the gathering was inappropriate.

"Ukrainian victims merit to spot Lvova-Belova down bars successful The Hague, not gathering with high-level UN officials," Balkees Jarrah, subordinate manager successful the International Justice Programme astatine Human Rights Watch, said.

Last September, Ms Lvova-Belova complained that immoderate children removed from the metropolis of Mariupol "spoke severely astir the [Russian President], said atrocious things and sang the Ukrainian anthem."