After the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin in March, Russian authorities placed International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan on a “wanted” list.
On Friday, Khan’s image was found in the Russian Interior Ministry’s database.
The announcement identified him as a male born on March 30, 1970, in Edinburgh, Scotland, but did not identify the nature of his crime.
In March, Russia launched a criminal investigation into Khan after the ICC issued an arrest order for Putin on the war crime charge of illegally deporting Ukrainian children.
In addition, the court issued an arrest warrant for Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s presidential commissioner for children’s rights.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said in March that Khan was being probed for the “criminal prosecution of a person known to be innocent.”
He was also under investigation for allegedly planning “an attack on a representative of a foreign state enjoying international protection,” according to investigators.
Since the start of Moscow’s onslaught in February 2022, more than 16,000 Ukrainian children have been deported to Russia, according to Kyiv, with many purportedly placed in institutions and foster homes.
Russia, which is not a member of the ICC, has said the warrant is “void”. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has hailed the court’s move as a “historic decision from which historic responsibility will begin.”
US President Joe Biden said the arrest warrant for Putin was “justified”.
