The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Russia’s former Defence Minister, Sergei Shoigu and current Chief of the general staff of the Russian armed forces, Valery Gerasimov for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
The court accused Shoigu and Gerasimov of the war crimes of directing attacks at civilian objects and of causing excessive incidental harm to civilians or damage to civilian objects.
They are also accused of crimes against humanity.
Shoigu was removed as the Minister of defence last month but has remained a senior government official as the head of Russia’s security council.
Announcing the warrants, the court stated that there “are reasonable grounds to believe that the two suspects bear responsibility for missile strikes carried out by the Russian armed forces against the Ukrainian electric infrastructure from at least 10 October 2022 until at least 9 March 2023.”
“During this timeframe, a large number of strikes against numerous electric power plants and substations were carried out by the Russian armed forces in multiple locations in Ukraine,” the court said.
The court added that it had “reasonable grounds to believe that the suspects intentionally caused great suffering or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health, thus bearing criminal responsibility for the crime against humanity of other inhumane acts.”
In its statement, the court noted that it believed the strikes were “directed against civilian objects, and for those installations that may have qualified as military objectives at the relevant time, the expected incidental civilian harm and damage would have been clearly excessive to the anticipated military advantage.”
Russia has argued that electrical infrastructure in Ukraine represents a legitimate military target.
The strikes have led to rolling blackouts across Ukraine, and have threatened crucial supplies of heating to the population in winter when temperatures fall below freezing.
Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this month that Russia had damaged or destroyed more than half of Ukraine’s power generation, causing the worst rolling blackouts since the invasion began in 2022.
Zelenskyy Welcomes ICC Arrest Warrants
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian President, welcomed the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court for Russia’s former Defence Minister and Chief of general staff.
Zelenskyy asserted that the ICC’s decision to issue the warrants against Shoigu and Gerasimov was “a clear indication that justice for Russian crimes against Ukrainians is inevitable.”
“It clearly demonstrates that no military rank or cabinet door can shield Russian criminals from accountability,” he stated.
“Every criminal involved in the planning and execution of these strikes must know that justice will be served. And we do hope to see them behind bars.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
He added that he looked forward to “more arrest warrants in order to deprive Russia of its sense of impunity.”
Shoigu and Gerasimov are unlikely to be able to serve the issued arrest warrants as the pair are in Russia, which is not a party to the ICC and has denounced the court.
Ukraine is not a member of the ICC but has given the court jurisdiction to prosecute war crimes committed on its territory since 2022.
Last year, the court issued warrants for the arrest of Russian President, Vladimir Putin and Russia’s human rights ombudsman, Maria Lvova-Belova, for their role in the forcible deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
A number of the children have been adopted by Russian officials or put up for adoption under false identities.
In March this year, the court issued arrest warrants for two high-ranking Russian military officers on charges linked to attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine that judges said happened “pursuant to a state policy.”
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