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So far, it’s only symbolic, but the horrific war criminal Vladimir Putin has finally been officially accused of the horrific war crime of abducting children from their families in Ukraine and shipping them off to Russia. It’s bad enough that Putin’s army has killed thousands of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians, but apparently at the Hague, kidnapping children is taking his war to an unacceptable level.

Russia, which does not recognize the authority of the International Criminal Court, immediately issued a statement denouncing the indictment. Kremlin spokesman Dimitry Peskov called the court’s move “outrageous and unacceptable” and declared it “legally void.”

The ICC also issued a warrant for Maria Lvova-Belova, the commissioner for children’s rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation. The warrants are not enforceable unless Putin or Lvova-Belova travel outside of Russia to countries which recognize the ICC’s authority, which is the entire rest of the civilized world, minus China, Syria, Iran, and perhaps a few African countries which have yet to sign onto sanctions against Russia and Russian companies.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky called the Hague’s move a “historic decision, from which historic responsibility will begin.”

If Putin wasn’t an international pariah before, he is now. His invasion of Ukraine has forced his zillion-dollar yacht to be parked on a dock somewhere in the Emirates, according to reports in the press. His presidential plane dare not leave the ground unless it is destined for someplace inside the territorial borders of Russia and Belarus, with which Russia shares a border that he can safely fly across.

Putin may never end up before the court in the Hague, but he will live a severely truncated life until some Russian coroner signs his death certificate and he is put in the ground.

Lucian K. Truscott IV, a graduate of West Point, has had a 50-year career as a journalist, novelist, and screenwriter. He has covered Watergate, the Stonewall riots, and wars in Lebanon, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He is also the author of five bestselling novels. You can subscribe to his daily columns at luciantruscott.substack.com and follow him on Twitter @LucianKTruscott and on Facebook at Lucian K. Truscott IV.

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