Ukraine’s Zelenskyy expected to visit Int’l Criminal Court

Zelenskyy visited The Hague, home to the ICC and the International Court of Justice, a day after denying that Ukrainian military attempted to assassinate Putin in a drone attack.

Zelenskyy told reporters in Helsinki on Wednesday, “We didn’t attack Putin. The tribunal decides.”

The ICC personnel placed a Ukrainian flag alongside its own flag outside the building on Thursday, however Zelenskyy’s presence was not confirmed.

Ukrainian Air Force Command reported early Thursday that Russian drones struck various Ukrainian districts overnight. Odesa and Kyiv reported blasts overnight as air raid sirens sounded across Ukraine.

Ukraine’s military reported three drones, inscribed “for Moscow” and “for the Kremlin,” hit an educational facility’s dorm in Odesa, but the fire was swiftly put out and no one was hurt. The military said drones and missiles attacked Kyiv for the third time in four days. All were shot down.
Zelenskyy is visiting The Hague, the international metropolis of peace and justice, amid violence.

The ICC stated on March 18 that Putin “is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of (children) and that of unlawful transfer of (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.”

The ICC does not have a police force to execute warrants, and Putin is unlikely to travel to any of the 123 member states that must arrest him if they can.

ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan has repeatedly visited Ukraine and is opening an office in Kyiv to aid his investigations.

However, the ICC cannot prosecute Putin for aggression—the unlawful invasion of another sovereign country. The Dutch government has volunteered to host an aggression court and an office to gather evidence.

In February, Eurojust, the EU’s judicial cooperation agency, stated the International Center for Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression should be operating by summer.

Russia’s assertion that it stopped Ukrainian drones from attacking the Kremlin early Wednesday prompted Zelenskyy’s arrival to The Hague. Moscow called it a “terrorist” attempt to assassinate Putin.

Kyiv air raid sirens sounded overnight, but no airstrikes were reported.

Dmitry Peskov told RIA Novosti that Putin was at his Novo-Ogaryovo estate outside Moscow.

Russia claimed a nighttime attack but provided no evidence. Why the Kremlin reported the incident hours later and why videos of it appeared later were also questioned.

Russian claims of a Ukrainian attack on Moscow were “unable to confirm” by White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. Jean-Pierre stated the U.S. was “not encouraging or enabling Ukraine to strike beyond its border” since the crisis began.

Jean-Pierre said she didn’t want to speculate, but added, “Obviously Russia has a history of doing things like this.”

Since Russia invaded Ukraine last year, the Netherlands has supported the war effort. Prime Minister Mark Rutte has committed 14 contemporary Leopard 2 tanks with Denmark. Expect them next year. Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands bought at least 100 outdated Leopard 1 tanks for Ukraine.

It deployed two Patriot air defense missile systems, two navy minehunter ships, and military forensic experts to aid war crime investigations. Zelenskyy visited on Dutch Memorial Day.