Medvedev suggests Russia strike ICC with hypersonic missile

Former President Medvedev wrote a long Telegram message criticizing the ICC for it’s arrest warrant issued for President Putin.

 Hypersonic rocket. (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Hypersonic rocket.
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev suggested bombing the International Criminal Court in the Hague with a hypersonic missile launched from a Russian ship on his Telegram account on Monday.

The suggestion comes in retaliation to the ICC issuing an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes committed by Russia in its invasion of Ukraine since February of last year.

Medvedev wrote a long message criticizing the warrant and said that “the main defect of the system of international public law is its inefficiency.”

Why does Medvedev see the ICC as inefficient?

He added that countries don’t respect decisions and acts made in the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council because they are unjust.

“An equal has no power over an equal,” he wrote.

RUSSIA’S PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin meets with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow two weeks ago. (credit: REUTERS)RUSSIA’S PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin meets with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow two weeks ago. (credit: REUTERS)

According to Medvedev, a country can only be internationally judged under the condition that it is so weakened it has “lost its sovereignty and decided to recognize the [International Criminal] Court over itself or when the country has “lost the war and capitulated.”

Medvedev also pointed to US activity in Afghanistan and Iraq saying that the only reason the US wasn’t prosecuted for its actions in these wars was that “the court was completely overwhelmed and could not do anything.”

He ended his message warning that Russia could bomb the court and saying that they should be scared.

“So citizens of the court, carefully look into the sky,” he closed.

The ICC issued its arrest warrant for Putin on Friday in a move that Moscow called meaningless. Many accusations of war crimes have been made against Russia in the last year, all of which the country has denied.

On Saturday, Putin visited Russian-occupied Mariupol which was devastated by Russia in the war. The move was seen as an act of defiance against the arrest warrant.


Iron Dome shot down drone over Gaza – report

The IDF Iron Dome shot down a drone over the southern Gaza strip on Wednesday, according to Hebrew media.

Explosions were heard throughout the Eshkol Regional Council, according to KAN News.

Palestinian media in Gaza reported the sound of explosions east of Rafiah and that the IDF fired two missiles toward the direction of Khan Yunis and western Rafiah.


Khaldoon al-Mubarak, the senior advisor to the President of the UAE, is currently visiting Israel.

UAE Ambassador to Israel, Mohamed Al Khaja, and Israeli President Isaac Herzog cut a ribbon during the opening ceremony of the Emirati embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel July 14, 2021. (photo credit: AMIR COHEN/REUTERS)
UAE Ambassador to Israel, Mohamed Al Khaja, and Israeli President Isaac Herzog cut a ribbon during the opening ceremony of the Emirati embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel July 14, 2021.
(photo credit: AMIR COHEN/REUTERS)

The United Arab Emirates is considering reducing its level of diplomatic representation in Israel after Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said in Paris that “there is no such thing as a Palestinian people,” according to Saudi reports on Monday.

According to the report, the Emirati Foreign Ministry ordered Emirati Ambassador to Israel Mohammed Al Khaja not to meet with any Israeli government officials.

Khaldoon al-Mubarak, the senior advisor to the President of the UAE, is currently visiting Israel, according to Walla News.

Netanyahu denies Israel-UAE relations in crisis

“Until we can be sure that Prime Minister Netanyahu has a government he can control, we will not be able to jointly operate.”

Emirati President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed

The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied allegations by Channel 12 that Israel is experiencing a crisis in its relations with the UAE after the country announced that it plans to stop a purchase of Israeli-made defense systems in protest of Netanyahu’s government, The Jerusalem Post reported earlier this month.

“Until we can be sure that Prime Minister Netanyahu has a government he can control, we will not be able to jointly operate,” Emirati President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed had reportedly told Israeli officials.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, March 2, 2023. (credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/FLASH90)Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, March 2, 2023. (credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/FLASH90)

Smotrich Huwara controversy

Last month, the UAE was among numerous countries that condemned a comment by Smotrich that the West Bank Palestinian town of Huwara “needs to be wiped out,” calling the comment “racist.”

Smotrich had later claimed that his comment had not been sincere and had apologized for it.

Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.