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President Joe Biden said Friday the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin was “justified” as the country continued to launch widespread attacks in Ukraine.
The ICC issued the arrest warrant Friday for Putin and Russia’s presidential commissioner for children’s rights, accusing them of war crimes and being involved in the unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia. The move means if Putin sets foot in any of the court’s 123 member states, that state is obligated to arrest him. The U.S. is not one of the member states that recognize the ICC.
“I think it’s justified,” Biden said in reference to the warrant, according to Reuters and The Hill. He noted the warrant isn’t recognized by the U.S., but Putin has “clearly committed war crimes,” Biden added.
Meanwhile, Russian forces launched 34 airstrikes, one missile strike and 57 rounds of anti-aircraft fire over 24 hours, Ukrainian military officials said Saturday morning.
Falling debris in southern Kherson damaged seven houses and a kindergarten overnight Friday.
One person was killed and three wounded when 11 towns and villages in the Donetsk province in eastern Ukraine were shelled Friday, Pavlo Kyrylenko, the province’s regional governor, said.
