The interlocutors of the publication claim that this “was perceived by the Kremlin as the“ most unexpected step ”of the West, and“ the Russian authorities were not ready for this situation.
According to Meduza, in 2023, the Kremlin intended to “promote the image of Putin (including for the domestic audience in the run-up to the presidential elections) as a ‘fighter against the West’, ‘defender of Latin American and African countries from colonial oppression’ and ‘one of the main leaders of the multipolar world”, but after the decision of the court in The Hague, the Russian president found himself in a situation where Putin’s foreign trips were in question.
“Theoretically, the President of the Russian Federation can be detained on the basis of the Hague warrant in 123 countries. Sources close to the Presidential Administration note that the Kremlin still does not quite understand how it is possible to “ensure the safety” of the president in the new conditions. Even the CIS ceases to be a safe space for Putin,” – emphasizes the publication.
Journalists note that among the countries that have ratified the Rome Statute and theoretically can arrest Putin, there is also Tajikistan.
Meduza’s sources consider Putin’s detention “impossible” due to the fact that the head of the Kremlin “simply will not go to a country where there is at least a minimal risk of being arrested.”
The publication explains that since the start of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine in February 2022, Putin has never traveled to Western countries, but “relatively regularly made foreign trips” to countries such as Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Armenia, in order to to show the Russians that “Russia still has more friends than ill-wishers,” and the country remains “one of the pillars of the multipolar world.”
“Restrictions on foreign visits will work in the opposite direction. Prior to the warrant, the trips were combined with trips by leaders of foreign countries to Moscow. Now it will not be possible to maintain the same frequency of meetings – you cannot constantly invite everyone to your place,” says one of Meduza’s interlocutors.
On March 17, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin and the children’s ombudsman in the Russian Federation, Maria Lvova-Belova. They are suspected of illegal deportation of children from the occupied regions of Ukraine to Russia.
Now Putin has the official status of a suspect in an international crime – the illegal deportation and displacement of Ukrainian children, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine noted.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov, commenting on the decision of the ICC, said that the Kremlin “considers the very posing of the issue outrageous and unacceptable.”
Putin could face trial despite Moscow’s argument that Russia is not covered by International Criminal Court decisions, ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan said March 17.
The ICC’s issuance of an arrest warrant for Putin is a “turning point,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said March 19.
