The Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court in The Hague has issued arrest warrants for former Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov. They are suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity. This is reported on the website of the ICC.
The court believes that Shoigu and Gerasimov are responsible for the missile strikes carried out by Russian troops on the Ukrainian electricity infrastructure in the period from at least October 10, 2022 to March 9, 2023.
The report states that the court has reason to believe that the strikes were directed against civilian targets, and for those targets that could qualify as military, the expected collateral damage to civilians was clearly excessive compared to the expected military advantage.
The Kremlin has already commented on the new ICC warrants: "The ICC chamber's decision against Sergei Shoigu is "null and void, it was taken as part of the West's hybrid war against Russia," the press service of the Russian Security Council apparatus said.
Recall, the Russian army began to launch massive strikes on Ukrainian power plants in the fall of 2022, tens of thousands of civilians were left without light and heat for several days. By the end of April 24, Ukraine had lost 80% of its thermal power generation and 35% of its hydroelectric power capacity. Putin called these strikes a response to the bombing of the Crimean bridge and power lines in the Kursk region.
Thus, the number of high-ranking Russians wanted because of the war in Ukraine has reached six people. These are Putin, children's ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova (they are accused of forcible deportation of minors), long-range aviation commander Sergei Kobylash and Black Sea Fleet commander Viktor Sokolov (for strikes on energy infrastructure).
The ICC wanted men are obliged to be arrested by any country ratifying the Rome Statute on whose territory they find themselves: that's 123 states. Russia does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC and has not been a party to the Rome Statute, which determines the court's actions, since 2016.
In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia's Children's Rights Commissioner.
