George Michaelidis
The war in Ukraine resembles a game of chess that has reached a critical point. Of all the latest developments, the decision of the International Criminal Court to prosecute the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, for war crimes certainly stands out. Specifically, the charge Putin faces is for forcibly removing children from their families in eastern Ukraine, illegal procedures for granting Russian citizenship to minors and, according to the court, abducting children to be adopted by Russian families.
The Russian side, naturally, rejected both the accusations and the court’s jurisdiction, while it is worth noting that in addition to it, the United States, Israel and China have also not signed the convention recognizing its jurisdiction — even if the Biden welcomed the prosecution of Putin. Anyway, it is historically documented that the ICC has never attempted to investigate war crimes involving the powerful capitalist states of the West. Until now, he had been limited to hunting leaders of the African continent and Southeast Asia. The “proclamation” of the leader of Russia constitutes an unreserved change of level. However, the timing is also important.
The decision was announced as China’s president prepared to visit Moscow, with rumors of a new Chinese peace initiative following the achievement of mediation for a rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The two leaders announced new cooperation agreements, as well as a joint strategy regarding Latin America and the African continent. Even more interesting is the fact that while Xi was in the Kremlin, the Japanese prime minister rushed to Kiev, where he declared his political – but not military – support for the Zelenskyi government.
On the military front, the Russian army appears for the first time since the summer to complete the capture of two important urban centers in the Donbass, the cities of Bakhmut and Avdeevka, a development that may give it a significant boost going forward, as these are two strongholds of Ukrainian defense line, for the possession of which the two sides have shed rivers of blood in recent months. It is no coincidence, also, that at this juncture, the USA, the UK and many other countries rushed to announce new packages of military support to Ukraine. We have the development of a war with great depth.