By Anthony Deutsch
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The International Criminal Court (ICC) is expected to seek arrest warrants against Russian individuals in relation to the conflict in Ukraine “in the short term”, a source with knowledge of the matter said on Monday.
The prosecutor of the ICC is expected to ask a pre-trial judge to approve issuing warrants against several Russians for the abduction of children from Ukraine to Russia and the targeting of civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, said the source, who commented on condition of anonymity.
It was unclear which Russian individuals the ICC would seek warrants for or exactly when.
The office of the prosecutor at the ICC declined to comment.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan opened an investigation into possible war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Ukraine a year ago. He highlighted during three trips to Ukraine that he was looking at alleged crimes against children and the targeting of civilian infrastructure.
Ukraine’s former prosecutor general in June told Reuters she hoped the ICC would prosecute the child abductions as genocide.
Russia has strongly denied that its forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine. It says it does not deliberately target civilians and has said that it is offering humanitarian aid to those wishing to flee Ukraine voluntarily.
(Reporting by Anthony Deutsch; Editing by John Stonestreet and Alison Williams)
