In a recent encounter, Ukraine appealed to Mongolia to apprehend Russian President Vladimir Putin, per the warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC). His visit to Mongolia on Tuesday didn’t perturb the Kremlin, despite the arrest warrant. The ICC, in March of the previous year, had judged Putin guilty of the war crime of illicitly removing hundreds of Ukrainian children. The accusation, however, was brushed aside by Kremlin, who labelled it as driven by political motives.
The arrest warrant necessitates 124 ICC member nations, amongst which Mongolia is included, to take Putin into custody and deliver him to The Hague for further judiciary proceedings if he ventures into their land. With a post on the Telegram social media site, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry implored the Mongolian government to enforce the international arrest order and hand Putin over to The Hague’s International Criminal Court.
Upon inquiry whether Mongolia’s ICC membership was a matter of concern for Moscow, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov responded to journalists that it was not a point of worry. “We share a harmonious dialogue with our Mongolian comrades,” he remarked. When asked about a conversation with Mongolia regarding the ICC order, Mr. Peskov indicated that all aspects of the visit were meticulously scrutinised.
On the other hand, a residential building and a playground in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s northeastern city, were hit by a Russian bomb attack, leading to the death of five people, including a child. The local authorities also revealed a count of at least 28 injured. This has led to an outpour of grief from the mayor of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, who lamented the death of a child on the playground. Additionally, three casualties resulted from a blast-initiated fire in a 12-floor residential block.
A recorded video from the strike site shared by the President’s principal advisor, Andriy Yermak, displayed the extent of the calamity as huge flames and dark smoke emanated from the building’s top floors. The second-largest city in Ukraine, Kharkiv, along with its nearby areas, has frequently been under the radar of Russian artillery, especially piercing guided bombs.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy reiterated his plea to the Western Allies to endorse long-distance assaults on Russian military air stations post the attack on Friday. Zelenskiy asserted on Telegram that such strikes wouldn’t have taken place if their defensive forces were equipped to annihilate Russian aircraft in their bases. Despite Russia’s denial of intentional civilian targeting, several have been killed and injured amidst the incessant two-and-a-half-year invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops.