The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants on Tuesday for former Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimovthe current military chief of staff, on charges of war crimes in Ukraine.
Both are said to be responsible for ‘directing attacks’ on civilian targets in Ukraine.
The ICC judges ruled that there were sufficient grounds to believe that Shoigu and Gerasimov were individually criminally liable, either because they ordered the attacks to be carried out by others or because they failed to exercise proper control over the forces under their command.
Specifically, the court alleged that Shoigu and Gerasimov were responsible for missile attacks on Ukraine’s electricity infrastructure from at least October 10, 2022, until at least March 9, 2023.
“During this period, a large number of attacks were carried out on numerous power plants and substations by the Russian armed forces in multiple locations in Ukraine,” the court statement said.
The ICC determined that the “alleged strike campaign constitutes a course of conduct involving the multiple commission of acts against a civilian population, carried out in accordance with state policy.”
Given all this, “there are reasonable grounds to believe that the suspects deliberately caused great suffering or serious injury to the body or to mental or physical health and thus bear criminal responsibility for the crime against humanity or other inhuman acts,” the court wrote in a statement. .
Russia says West backs judicial decisions
Russia’s National Security Council, where Shoigu is now secretary after being fired as defense minister in May, called the decision ridiculous and unimportant. According to him, the ICC has no jurisdiction over Russia.
The Court has no enforcement mechanism, but all States Parties to the Court are required to arrest requested persons and hand them over to the Court if they are within their territory. Russia is not a member of the ICC.
The judgment “was made in the context of the West’s hybrid war against our country,” the Security Council statement published by Russian news agencies said.
Zelensky praises orders, wants more to come
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, writing on
He said he hoped “every criminal” behind bars would be involved in these attacks. The ICC decision shows that “no military rank or cabinet door can shield Russian criminals from liability.”
He hopes for additional arrest warrants “to remove the feeling of impunity in Russia… Accountability is the only way to end this.”
Shoigu was dismissed as Defense Minister by Russian President Vladimir Putin after having held the post since 2012. The court had also previously issued an arrest warrant for Putin for alleged war crimes, including the forced deportation of Ukrainian children.
