The International Criminal Court said on Tuesday it had issued arrest warrants for two prominent Russian security figures accused of war crimes in Ukraine – former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Gen. Valery V. Gerasimov, The country’s highest-ranking military officer.
The court said in a statement that the two men were “suspected” of directing attacks on civilian targets, causing excessive collateral damage to civilians or damage to civilian targets, and committing crimes against humanity and inhumane acts. The arrest warrants were issued on Monday.
“There are reasonable grounds to believe that the two suspects are responsible for missile attacks by the Russian Armed Forces against Ukraine’s power infrastructure between October 2022 and March 2023,” the statement said. “During this period, the Russian Armed Forces carried out large-scale attacks on numerous power plants and substations at multiple locations in Ukraine.”
Last year, the court Issue arrest warrant Russian President Vladimir Putin and another Russian official have been accused of kidnapping and deporting Ukrainian children, saying they bear personal criminal responsibility for the abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In March of this year, Issue arrest warrant Two senior Russian commanders charged War crimes and crimes against humanity.
Russia has said it does not recognize the arrest warrant or the ICC’s jurisdiction and denies war crimes.
