CANBERRA, March 18. /TASS/. The International Criminal Court (ICC) is a redundant international institution in decay, Australian foreign policy analyst Tony Kevin told TASS on Saturday, commenting on the court’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova.

"The ICC is a redundant international institution in decay that has lost faith or pride in itself. The ICC has fallen victim to the West’s fanatical Russophobia," he pointed out, adding that the charges against Putin and Lvova-Belova were ridiculous and a gross insult to Russia, a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

According to Kevin, the work to "remove children at risk from a lethal war zone in Donbass, where their homes, schools, hospitals, playgrounds are being shelled since 2014, including with banned petal bombs, by their own former government, to the safety of adjoining Russia, is a responsible and humane act." "Only a fevered propagandized Russophobic mind - only a Ukrainian Nazi mind - could see a crime in this prudent measure to protect vulnerable citizens at risk," the expert emphasized.

On Friday, the ICC issued arrest warrants against Putin and Lvova Belova saying that they were allegedly responsible for the unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children. When commenting on the decision, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov pointed out that Russia did not recognize the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The International Criminal Court, established based on the 1998 Rome Statute, is not part of the United Nations and reports to the countries that ratified the document. The countries that aren’t the Statute’s members include Russia (who signed but did not ratify the document), the United States (signed the Statute but withdrew its signature later) and China (did not sign the Statute). In November 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order saying that Russia did not plan to become an ICC member. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the court failed to become a truly independent and credible international justice body.

Specializing in international politics, Kevin served as Australia’s ambassador to Poland and Cambodia. He commenced his diplomatic career in 1969 in Moscow. The former envoy has authored several books since he left the diplomatic service.