Since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin on Friday, the Kremlin has done its best to appear unfazed. But multiple sources close to the Russian authorities have told Meduza that the Putin administration was not expecting the court’s announcement, and that the severe restrictions the warrant puts on the president’s ability to travel abroad could poke holes in the image he tries to project at home.
The indictment of Vladimir Putin by the International Criminal Court has disrupted his travel plans for later this year.
According to two sources close to the Putin administration, these trips were very important for domestic propaganda, among other things, because Russia’s pro-government media could cite them while telling citizens that Russia “still has more friends that detractors” and that it remains “one of the pillars of the multipolar world.”
“The restrictions on foreign visits will work in the opposite direction. Before the warrant, [Putin’s] trips abroad were combined with foreign leaders’ trips to Moscow. Now, it won’t be possible to keep having meetings with the same frequency — you can’t constantly invite everybody to come to you,” one source said.
Yep, being a war criminal sort of makes you socially unacceptable.
The president’s foreign travel difficulties have already begun: in August 2023, South Africa is slated to host the next BRICS summit, and Cape Town has already said that it’s “cognisant of its legal obligation” regarding the ICC warrant. Putin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, however, has said that the Kremlin has remained “calm” and will “continue working.”
Not everybody in the Kremlin has remained “calm”. Former President Dmitry Medvedev, who’s become a reliable source of hyperbolic hysterics, is threatening to bomb The Hague with hypersonic missiles.
Russia's former president suggested firing a hypersonic missile at The Hague after Putin's ICC arrest warrant: 'Look carefully into the sky'
Maybe the ICC shouldn’t worry too much about Medvedev’s latest hissy fit. Ukraine just destroyed a train loaded with cruise missiles in Dzhankoi in Russian-occupied Crimea.
Russian cruise missiles destroyed in strike in Crimea, Ukraine Defense Ministry says
This makes Putin look bad while Chinese President Xi Jinping is in Moscow for a state visit.
Not only was Ukraine able to hit the target, but Ukrainian intelligence had discovered in advance where the cruise missiles would be at that time. Cheers to Gen. Budanov!
