The decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague to issue an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin could have dire consequences for international law, Russia’s former president Dmitry Medvedev said on Telegram on Monday. He suggested that Russia could target the ICC courthouse with a hypersonic missile as a conceivable retaliation.
“Gentlemen, everyone walks under God and missiles. It is quite possible to imagine the targeted use of a hypersonic Onyx missile by a Russian ship in the North Sea by at The Hague court building,” Medvedev stated. “Unfortunately, it cannot be shot down. And the court is just a poor international organisation, not the population of a NATO country. That’s why they won’t start a war. They are afraid. And no one will feel sorry for them,” he continued. “So, judges of the court, look carefully at the sky.”
The ICC issued arrest warrants against Putin and Russian government official Maria Lvova-Belova, accusing them of committing war crimes by taking Ukrainian children from the country. A report commissioned by the U.S. State Department said that at least 6,000 children have been taken from Ukraine and sent to Russian camps, where many were readied to be adopted by Russian families or given military training.
In his rant on Telegram, Medvedev denounced the ICC as being “shitty” and “useless,” saying that many of the largest nations decided not to join. He also alleged that the ICC has been corrupted by US influence, and suggested it was essentially ineffective.
The ICC’s arrest warrant is bravado “against the largest nuclear power,” Medvedev said, noting that Russia also withdrew from participating in the International Criminal Court. “They have decided to prosecute a president of a nuclear power who does not participate in the ICC in the same manner as the United States and other countries,” Medvedev said.
“The consequences for international law will be monstrous. After all, this is the collapse of the foundations, the principles of law. Including the postulates of the inevitability of responsibility. Now no one will go to any international bodies, everyone will negotiate among themselves.”