The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant on Friday against Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of being responsible for war crimes committed in Ukraine, but Moscow said the move was meaningless.
Russia has repeatedly denied accusations that its forces have committed atrocities during its one-year-old invasion of its neighbor.
The ICC issued the warrant for Putin's arrest on suspicion of unlawful deportation of children and unlawful transfer of people from the territory of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.
The court also issued a warrant for Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia's Commissioner for Children's Rights, on the same charges.
Moscow: ICC's arrest warrant has no bearing on Russia
In the first reaction to the news from Moscow, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on her Telegram channel: "The decisions of the International Criminal Court have no meaning for our country, including from a legal point of view."
"Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and bears no obligations under it."
There was no immediate reaction from the Kremlin.
Ukraine: Putin's arrest warrant is only the beginning
Senior Ukrainian officials applauded the ICC decision, with the country's Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin hailing it as "historic for Ukraine and the entire international law system."
Andriy Yermak, chief of the presidential staff, said that issuing the warrant was "only the beginning."
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan opened an investigation into possible war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Ukraine a year ago. He highlighted during four trips to Ukraine that he was looking at alleged crimes against children and the targeting of civilian infrastructure.
The ICC move came a day after a UN-mandated investigative body accused Russia of committing wide-ranging war crimes in Ukraine, including wilful killings and torture, in some cases making children watch loved ones being raped and detaining others alongside dead bodies.
The news also came ahead of a planned state visit to Moscow next week by Chinese President Xi Jinping which is likely to cement much closer ties between Russia and China just as relations between Moscow and the West hit new lows.
Kremlin: ICC arrest warrant for Putin is 'null and void'
The Kremlin said on Friday it did not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) after the body issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia found the very questions raised by the ICC "outrageous and unacceptable," and that any decisions of the court were "null and void" with respect to Russia.
Asked if Putin now feared traveling to countries that recognized the ICC, Peskov said: "I have nothing to add on this subject. That's all we want to say."