A pre-trial chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants on Tuesday (June 25) for Russia’s former Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu and the current chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov.
The ICC judges stated there are reasonable grounds to believe that Shoigu and Gerasimov bear responsibility for missile strikes carried out by the Russian army against Ukrainian electric infrastructure from at least 10 October 2022 to at least 9 March 2023.
Shoigu and Gerasimov are allegedly responsible for war crimes, including directing attacks on civilian objects and causing excessive incidental harm to civilians or damage to civilian objects. They are also accused of committing crimes against humanity for inhumane acts under the Rome Statute.
Despite the warrants, Russia, like the US, Ukraine, and Israel, is not a member of the ICC and refuses to hand over suspects. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized the court, claiming it “failed to live up to expectations and did not become a truly independent body of international justice,” as reported by state news agency Tass.
Last year, the ICC issued a warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
