The International Criminal Court in The Hague is now seeking the arrest of Russian former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and current military Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.
The charges pertain to alleged crimes committed during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Attacks on energy infrastructure at heart of the warrants
The court said in a press release on Tuesday that there were “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.”
The Russian officials are accused of responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity for directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects in Ukraine.
Until Shoigu’s relatively recent dismissal and reassignment to the country’s security council, the two men were arguably President Vladimir Putin’s most senior defense officials. Andrey Belousov has since taken over as defense minister.
Eight Russians now facing ICC charges pertaining to Ukraine
Putin himself also faces an ICC arrest warrant, connected to the alleged forced relocation of Ukrainian children to Russia and Russian families. That was issued in March 2023. In total, the ICC has sought the arrest of eight Russian officials since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Russia is not a full signatory to the ICC and generally does not extradite its citizens. It’s not clear whether they will ever face trial, therefore. The tribunal has no police force of its own and relies on member states to make arrests on its behalf.
Ukraine is also not a member, but has granted the ICC authority to prosecute crimes committed on its territory from the 2014 annexation of Crimea onwards, explaining how the indictments are possible.
If nothing else, the warrants are liable to limit the travel options for the affected officials, assuming they do not want to risk arrest.
msh/rmt (AP, Reuters)
