March 18, 2023

Fugitive No. 1


Fugitive No. 1
Pre-indicted Putin at a press conference in Serbia, 2019. | Dreamstime.com

On March 17 (which, as it happens, is the international day designated to honor a Catholic Saint who, hagiographic legend has it, drove out all the vermin from his country), the International Criminal Court (ICC) indicted Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes.

The charge against Putin, and against Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, is for "the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation (under articles 8(2)(a)(vii) and 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute)."

Various commentators have called the charge something like the first low-hanging, slam-dunk fruit of the many war crimes for which Putin and his retinue will eventually be charged.

The immediate implication for Putin is that it puts a serious crimp in his traveling life. Some 63 percent of the world's countries are now no-go zones for the Russian president, as there are 123 signatories to the International Criminal Court among the world's 195 nations, and all are ostensibly obligated to extradite ICC criminals to the Hague, should they land on their soil.

What is more, as CNN summarized it, "Without careful planning, Putin could touch down in a country apparently unaligned with the ICC and not beholden to the international law requirements that he be handed over to the Hague, yet for unseen international political pressure, or their own new-found desire for international justice, trigger a legal process to get him to the Hague."

ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan made it clear in this rare case of indicting a sitting head of state that no one is off limits, and that “definitely nobody should feel they can act and commit genocide or crimes against humanity or war crimes with impunity.”

No matter how the future holds, this much we know for certain: from this point forward Vladimir Putin will always bear the moniker "indicted war criminal" as part of his journalistic introduction.

 

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

At the Circus
January 01, 2013

At the Circus

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.

Woe From Wit (bilingual)
June 20, 2017

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka
November 01, 2012

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.

Moscow and Muscovites
November 26, 2013

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 

The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

A Taste of Chekhov
December 24, 2022

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

Faith & Humor
December 01, 2011

Faith & Humor

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.

White Magic
June 01, 2021

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955