The International Criminal Court announced on Friday that it had issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes related to his alleged involvement in the abduction of children from Ukraine.

The court accused Putin of being responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation and transfer of children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia. Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, the Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, also received an arrest warrant on similar charges.

The ICC’s pre-trial chamber found that there were reasonable grounds to believe that both suspects bore responsibility for the war crime of unlawful deportation and transfer of population from Ukraine to Russia, specifically with regards to Ukrainian children.

Over the course of the last year, the prosecution — as well as the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office — has been gathering evidence from a multitude of country and individual sources. CBS News’ Pamela Falk reported earlier this week that ICC prosecutor Karim Khan was preparing to seek arrest warrants for individuals involved in the alleged abduction of Ukrainian children and targeting of civilian infrastructure.

In the beginning of the month, Khan made his fourth visit to Ukraine and stated, “I leave Ukraine with a sense that the momentum towards justice is accelerating.”

If an indictment is issued for Putin, the Russian president could become an international fugitive, according to CBS News’ David Martin.

Justice Richard Goldstone, the chief prosecutor of war crimes committed in Bosnia during the 1990s, explained, “It’s not easy for a head of state to fear being arrested when he or she puts foot in a European country or in a North American country.”

Ambassador Beth Van Schaack, the State Department official responsible for collecting evidence that could support allegations that Russia is committing war crimes in Ukraine, informed Martin that Putin is now trapped in Russia. “He will never be able to travel internationally because it would be too risky for him to be captured and brought before a court of law,” she said.

This applies to any other Russian charged with war crimes as well.

According to Ambassador Beth Van Schaack, Russian officials charged with war crimes may avoid punishment while staying in Russia, but the risk of being arrested in other countries is high. “They will enjoy some impunity while they stay within Russia,” Van Schaack stated, “but what we have seen is perpetrators don’t stay within their home states.” She added that the perpetrators would be identified when they attempt to travel abroad for shopping or vacations, and law enforcement would be activated.

CBS News has been investigating alleged war crimes and torture by Russian forces in Ukraine since the start of the invasion. In August, CBS News correspondent Chris Livesay spoke with Ukrainian children who had been kidnapped to Russian territory against their will, later rescued and brought back to Ukraine.