DISINFO: Putin has saved the children from the battlefields in Ukraine
SUMMARY
The Russian President is accused of stealing children who were actually taken away from the battlefield. Where Russia is trying to save children, the West would simply abandon them.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative denying war crimes committed by the Russian armed forces and the Russian federal administration, in the context of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, which started on 24 February 2022.
The abduction and forced transportation of Ukrainian children to Russia has been documented by the UN, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Ukraine has already reported the actions of Russia's children’s ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
On 17 March 2023, the ICC issued arrest warrants for two individuals in the context of the situation in Ukraine: Vladimir Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova.
The court alleges Vladimir Putin is responsible for war crimes, and has focused its claims on the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia. It says the crimes were committed in Ukraine from 24 February 2022 - when Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
In a statement, the ICC said it had reasonable grounds to believe Putin committed the criminal acts directly, as well as working with others. It also accused him of failing to use his presidential powers to stop children being deported.
Read similar cases stating that Donbas children not deported to Russia but saved from bombing, that the kidnapping of Ukrainian children by Russia is an absurd hoax and that secret society of paedophiles takes revenge on Putin with ICC warrant.