Russian President Vladimir Putin has been warned that he could be arrested if he travels to the BRICS summit in South Africa this August, with officials in the country saying they will have to detain him on the warrant issued this March by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
According to the South African outlet The Sunday Times, government officials there are trying to convince Putin to attend the BRICS summit in Cape Town by videoconference rather than in person, because as a member of the ICC, South Africa would have to honor Putin's arrest warrant.
The ICC is accusing Putin of unlawfully deporting thousands of Ukrainian children, which is a war crime. The warrant obligates the ICC's 123 member states to arrest the Russian leader and transfer him to The Hague if he comes to their land.
The warning comes as the White House reported this weekend that it estimates there have been 100,000 Russian casualties in Ukraine, including 20,000 dead, in the last 5 months, reports CNBC.
Half of those dead are reportedly fighters from the Wagner Group, a private military company. In addition, General Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Telegram Monday that some Russian units are abandoning their positions in Bakhmut, while Ukraine continues to defend the area.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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