Multiple drones shot down in Russia's Bryansk region, state media reports
William Burgess 
South Africa has issued diplomatic immunity to all officials attending a summit in August, meaning Russian President Vladimir Putin might be able to travel to the country despite an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant for his arrest.
South African officials, which announced the controversial decision on Monday in a government gazette notice, insisted that it may not override the ICC arrest warrant. As a signatory to the ICC, South Africa may be legally obligated to arrest Putin. The court issued a warrant for his arrest in March over the alleged deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia.
South Africa is hosting a meeting of the BRICS group of developing nations -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- in August.
"This is a standard conferment of immunities that we do for all international conferences and summits held in South Africa irrespective of the level of participation,” South Africa's foreign ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said this was routine protocol to protect the conference and its attendees, not for specific individuals, adding that "these immunities do not override any warrant that may have been issued by any international tribunal against any attendee of the conference."
South Africa's main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), said in a statement Tuesday that it had launched a court application to request the government detain Putin and surrender him to the ICC, if he were to visit the country. The DA said their application outlines precise steps to be taken should a request for Putin’s arrest be made by the ICC, so that there is "no legal ambiguity relating to the procedure to be followed, and the obligations placed upon the state."
Some background: The South African government has come under intense criticism for its stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has routinely abstained from votes condemning Russia at the United Nations General Assembly.
While South African leadership has repeatedly stated that they are neutral in the conflict and have frequently called for a negotiated settlement, their actions have come under increasing scrutiny from Western powers. Earlier this month, the US ambassador to South Africa accused the South African government of delivering arms and ammunition to a sanctioned Russian cargo vessel late last year.
Previous reporting from CNN's David McKenzie
