Should Russia's President Putin be charged with war crimes?
Introduction to the media issue
Video clip at right: On April 10, 2022, NBC televised a report addressing the questions of 'What is a war crime?' and 'Is President Putin likely to be charged with war crimes?'What they said...
'He [Putin] is a war criminal ... He should be held accountable'
United States president, Joe Biden
'This [condemnation] is hardly acceptable from a president of the United States, a country that has committed well-known crimes in recent times'
Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov
The issue at a glance
On February 24, 2022, Russian forces invaded Ukraine.
On February 28, 2022, Karim Ahmad Khan, a prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, announced that he would begin an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine.
On March 15, 2022, in apparent response to a reporter's question, United States president, Joe Biden, stated that Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, was a war criminal.
On March 15, 2022, the United States Senate passed a resolution unanimously declaring Russia's leader Vladimir Putin a war criminal.
There has since been extensive debate around whether President Putin has committed war crimes and whether, if that is the case, he will ever be charged and brought before the International Criminal Court to be tried for this offence.