TYRANT Vladimir Putin has taunted the West as he defied international threats to arrest him during his official state visit to Mongolia.
It marks Putin’s first trip to a member country of the International Criminal Court (ICC) since it issued a warrant for his arrest in March last year.
The brazen dictator has been accused of alleged war crimes in Ukraine – including the abduction of tens of thousands of children and sneaking them into Russia.
Putin reached Mongolia on Monday where he was given an honour guard as he was welcomed in the capital city’s main square.
He is now to attend a ceremony marking the 85th anniversary of the victory of Russian and Mongolian forces over Japan in World War Two.
However, there are no signs that Putin will be arrested inside the country that is bound to detain war criminals if a warrant is issued by the ICC.
The warrant demands the court’s 124 member states, including Mongolia, to arrest Putin and transfer him to The Hague for trial if he sets foot on their territory.
An ICC spokesperson said Mongolia has an “obligation” to follow rules set by the international court, but cleared it does not have any enforcement mechanism.
Another spokesperson added: “The ICC relies on its States Parties and other partners to execute its decisions with arrest warrants.
“In case of non-cooperation, ICC judges may make a finding to that effect and inform the Assembly of States Parties of it.
“It is then for the Assembly to take any measure it deems appropriate.”
Ahead of his visit, Ukraine called on Mongolia to hand Putin over to the international authorities, but the European Union (EU) expressed concerns that Mongolia might not execute the warrant.
Kyiv said: “[Our side] hopes that the Government of Mongolia is aware of the fact that Vladimir Putin is a war criminal.”
But Putin’s mouthpiece Dmitry Peskov shot back at suggestions of an arrest saying the Kremlin was not worried about the state visit.
He said: “No, no worries about this. We have a great dialogue with our friends from Mongolia.
“Obviously before the visit, all of the aspects of the visit have been thoroughly discussed.”
The ICC has accused Putin of being responsible for the abductions and “unlawful deportations” of children from Ukraine – a war crime under the Geneva Convention.
It said the alleged crimes were committed in Ukraine from 24 February 2022 – when Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
The court also issued a warrant for the arrest of Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, for the same alleged crimes.
Putin has also been accused of the mistreatment of prisoners since the start of the gruelling war by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
The Sun previously showed horrifying pictures of Ukrainian prisoners of war looking malnourished after being held by Putin’s forces for months.
The Kremlin has dismissed these accusations and dubbed them “outrageous”, claiming they are politically motivated.
Speaking of the active arrest warrant against Putin, former Russian president Dimitry Medvedev said: “If I were the judges and prosecutors of this half-baked ‘court’, I would be most afraid that some madman would try to carry out their illegal order.
“In that case, their lives would be worth no more than this piece of s*** paper.”
An investigation by The Sun into Ukraine’s missing children back in September 2022 revealed that thousands of children had been deported during the Russia-Ukraine war.
Latest figures from Ukraine say 19,500 children have been deported or forcibly displaced, and only 388 have been returned.
Altantuya Batdorj, Executive Director of Amnesty International Mongolia, said: “President Putin is a fugitive from justice.
“Any trip to an ICC member state that does not end in arrest will encourage President Putin’s current course of action and must be seen as part of a strategic effort to undermine the ICC’s work to prosecute suspected war criminals.”
More than 50 Russians outside the country have signed an open letter urging the government of Mongolia to immediately detain Vladimir Putin upon his arrival.
This includes Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was freed from a Russian prison in August in the biggest East-West prisoner swap since the Cold War.
Putin has made a series of overseas trips in recent months to try to counter the international isolation he faces over the invasion of Ukraine.
He visited China in May, made a trip to North Korea and Vietnam in June and went to Kazhakstan in July for a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Last year, he was forced to join a meeting in Johannesburg by video link after the South African government lobbied against him showing up for the BRICS summit.
South Africa is an International Criminal Court member.
Regime leaders and key figures hauled before international courts
VLADIMIR Putin is not the first dictator to be accused of war crimes by international courts.
- Slobodan Milosevic – former president of Serbia
The International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia charged Milošević with genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo.
He was the first sitting head of state to be charged with war crimes but died in custody before he was tried.
- Ratko Mladic – former Serbian army commander
Mladic – dubbed the “Butcher of Bosnia” – was found guilty of genocide and jailed for life by the International Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia in 2017.
He was blamed for the worst atrocities in Europe since World War II during the country’s 1990s conflict.
He faced 11 charges including genocide and crimes against humanity.
The UN court found him guilty on 10 counts including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, acquitting him of genocide in the municipalities.
- Charles Taylor – former president of Liberia
Taylor was accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity as a result of his involvement in the Sierra Leone Civil War from 1991 – 2002.
On April 26, 2012, Taylor was found guilty on all 11 counts of bearing responsibility for the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by rebel forces during the war.
He was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
