Issuing a warrant for arrest, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has targeted a former Russian Defence Minister, Sergei Shoigu, and a prominent Russian General, Valery Gerasimov.
Alleging crimes committed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the ICC has called for the arrest of Shoigu and Gerasimov.
Recently relieved of his duties as defence minister and reassigned as the Secretary of Russia’s influential Security Council, Shoigu’s shift marks one of the most significant changes made by Russian President Vladimir Putin to his military leadership since the onset of the 2022 war.
The Hague-based court has accused Shoigu and Gerasimov of suspected war crimes against humanity, specifically for orchestrating attacks on civilians in Ukraine.
An ICC statement mentioned that the judges had established grounds to believe that the two suspects are responsible for missile strikes by the Russian armed forces on the Ukrainian electric infrastructure spanning from at least 10 October 2022 to at least 9 March 2023.
The ICC judges concluded that these strikes primarily targeted civilian facilities. Even for locations that could have been considered military targets at the time, the anticipated damage on civilians was deemed excessively disproportionate to any potential military advantage, qualifying these attacks as war crimes.
Despite not being a member of the ICC, Russia has consistently defended Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as a legitimate military target, refuting claims of deliberate attacks on civilians or civilian establishments.
While also not a member, Ukraine has granted the ICC the authority to prosecute crimes committed within its borders.
These warrants against Shoigu and Gerasimov raise the total number of arrest warrants issued against high-ranking Russian figures since the commencement of the invasion to eight.