Ukraine asks International Criminal Court to consider Putin's decree on Ukrainian children

Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to take note of actions being taken by Russia’s leadership to force Russian citizenship on deported Ukrainian children, which is one of the signs of genocide.

Source: an official comment by the Foreign Ministry on President Vladimir Putin's decree on the right to obtain Russian citizenship

Details: The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry noted that on 4 January, Putin signed a decree "On the definition of certain categories of foreign citizens and stateless persons who are entitled to apply for Russian citizenship".

The decree stipulates that orphans and children deprived of parental care who are citizens of Ukraine may be granted Russian citizenship by a personal decision of the Russian president, disregarding all or some requirements of Russian federal law. Applications for Russian citizenship can be submitted by the heads of Russian organisations in which Ukrainian children are forcibly held.

The Foreign Ministry stressed that this latest "regulatory act", in addition to its aim of using migrants to meet Russia’s demographic needs in order to pursue its armed aggression against Ukraine, also grossly violates Ukrainian legislation, international law, and the rights of children who are citizens of Ukraine and who were forcibly displaced to the Russian Federation during the full-scale invasion.

Such actions violate the norms of international humanitarian law, are null and void, and generate no legal effects. The Russian Federation's introduction of its latest citizenship legislation seeks to deprive abducted Ukrainian children of the opportunity to return to their homeland, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.

Quote: "The only real value of this decree is that it will serve as further evidence of Russia's crimes against Ukraine, the forced assimilation of Ukrainian children, and attempts to deprive them of their own homeland.

We call on the International Criminal Court to take note of these actions of the Russian leadership to transfer Ukrainian children from one national group to another, including by forcing them to obtain Russian citizenship, which is one of the signs of genocide, and on the international community to implement the arrest warrant issued by the ICC against Vladimir Putin as soon as possible by taking the necessary measures to detain him and transfer him to the international justice system."

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