Vladimir Putin has had an arrest warrant issued for him by the International Criminal Court on allegations of war crimes.

This is due to the Russian President's alleged involvement in abductions of children from Ukraine.

The court said in a statement that Mr Putin “is allegedly responsible 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.”

It also issued a warrant on Friday for the arrest of Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, the Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, on similar allegations.

Oxford Mail: Moscow has denied any allegations of war crimes Moscow has denied any allegations of war crimes

The ICC said that its pre-trial chamber found there were “reasonable grounds to believe that each suspect bears responsibility for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population and that of unlawful transfer of population from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation, in prejudice of Ukrainian children.”

Can Putin actually be arrested?

BBC News reports that despite the warrant on Mr Putin and Ms Lvova-Belova, the ICC has no powers to arrest suspects.

It can only exercise jurisdiction within countries that are signed up to the agreement that set up the court.

Russia is not a signatory to that agreement - so it is unlikely either will be extradited.

Ukraine also is not a member of the court, but it has granted the ICC jurisdiction over its territory and ICC prosecutor Karim Khan has visited four times since opening an investigation a year ago.

Moscow has denied allegations of war crimes during Russia's invasion of Ukraine.