THE HAGUE, Netherlands
A pre-trial chamber of the International Criminal Court issued Tuesday (Jun. 25) arrest warrants for Russia’s former Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and current chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov.
The judges say there are
reasonable grounds to believe that the officials bear responsibility for
missile strikes carried out by the Russian army against the Ukrainian electric
infrastructure from at least 10 October 2022 until at least 9 March 2023.
Shoigu and Gerasimov are
allegedly responsible for the war crimes of directing attacks at civilian
objects and causing excessive incidental harm to civilians or damage to
civilian objects, and the crime against humanity of inhumane acts under the
Rome Statute.
Like the US, Ukraine and
Israel, Russia isn’t a member of the court and refuses to hand over suspects.
The ministry of Foreign
Affairs said that the court "failed to live up to expectations and did not
become a truly independent body of international justice," according to
state news agency Tass.
Last year, the court issued a
warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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