ICC seeks arrest of Russian officials over attacks on Ukrainian civil infrastructure

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.