Russian authorities have issued a condemnation against nine judges from the International Criminal Court (ICC), including Tomoko Akane, Rosario Salvatore Aitala, and Sergio Gerardo Ugalde Godines. These judges were responsible for the March 17, 2023, arrest warrant against Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and the children’s rights ombudsperson Maria Lvova-Belova.
In December 2025, the Moscow City Court found these judges guilty of, among other charges, “involving an innocent person in criminal responsibility or unlawfully initiating a criminal case.” The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office argues that the ICC judges lacked the necessary grounds to issue arrest warrants for Russian citizens and emphasized that Russia does not recognize the ICC’s jurisdiction, as it is not a signatory to the Rome Statute.
According to their statement, “These decisions were made in violation of fundamental principles and norms of international law and without any evidence of the alleged crimes committed by the mentioned individuals.”
Context
- On March 17, 2023, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin and the authorized child rights representative Maria Lvova-Belova, who are suspected of unlawfully deporting children from occupied regions of Ukraine to Russia.
- This warrant grants Putin an official status as a suspect in an international crime – the illegal deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children, as noted by the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office.
- Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, labeled the ICC’s approach to the matter as “outrageous and unacceptable” during a recent commentary on the situation.
- Despite Moscow’s claims that ICC decisions do not apply to Russia, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan expressed on March 17 in an interview with CNN that Putin could still face trial.
- The issuance of the arrest warrant represents a “turning point,” according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on March 19.
- UK lawyer and judge Geoffrey Nice, who previously prosecuted Slobodan Milosevic at the ICC, expressed skepticism about Putin ever standing trial under current circumstances, noting that the arrest warrant would remain in effect until the Russian president’s death.
