International Court of Justice calls for arrest of Russian officials for attacks on Ukrainian civilian targets

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court said Tuesday it has issued arrest warrants for Russia’s former defense minister and his chief of general staff over attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine. It is the third time the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants against senior Russian politicians.

The court accuses former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov of war crimes and inhuman crimes against humanity.

The judges, who granted the prosecutor’s request for an arrest warrant, said the suspects were accused of inhumane acts because there was evidence that they had “intentionally caused great suffering or serious physical harm or injury to mental or physical health” to civilians in Ukraine.

A statement from the court said the arrest warrants were issued on Monday because judges believed there were sufficient grounds to believe the men were responsible for “missile attacks by Russian forces on Ukrainian power infrastructure” from October 10, 2022 to at least March 9, 2023.

“During this period, Russian forces carried out numerous attacks on numerous power plants and substations in several locations in Ukraine,” the court added.

Under the leadership of Shoigu and Gerasimov, the Russian military has launched waves of missile and drone attacks on Ukraine, killing thousands of people and damaging the country’s energy system and other vital infrastructure. Moscow insists it has only attacked military facilities, although casualties are occurring daily in civilian areas.

The court said the rocket attacks listed in the warrant were allegedly directed against civilian objects, adding that for all the facilities that could be considered military targets, “the expected incidental harm to the civilian population was of a significant magnitude in relation to the expected military advantage.”

The court said the details of the arrest warrants were kept secret to protect witnesses.

There is no immediate likelihood that either suspect will be arrested. Russia is not a member of the International Court of Justice, does not recognize its jurisdiction, and refuses to extradite suspects.

Last year, the court also issued an arrest warrant against the Russian President Wladimir Putinand accused him of being personally responsible for the kidnappings of children from Ukraine.

In March this year, the court also issued arrest warrants against two high-ranking Russian military officers on charges related to attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, which, according to the judges, were carried out “as a result of state policy”.

Putin replaces Shoigu appointed defense minister in a cabinet reshuffle in May as he began his fifth term as president.

Shoigu, 69, is widely seen as a key figure in Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Russia had expected the operation to quickly overwhelm the much smaller and poorly equipped Ukrainian army and to gain widespread support for Russian troops among Ukrainians.

Instead, the conflict prompted Ukraine to mount an intense defense and dealt humiliating blows to the Russian army, including retreating from an attempt to take the capital Kyiv and a counteroffensive that drove Moscow’s forces out of the Kharkiv region and near Kherson in the south in the fall of 2022.

Shoigu, who had personal ties to Putin, got a soft start with the prestigious post of secretary of the Russian Security Council. At the same time, Shoigu’s entourage was hit by purges. A long-time aide and deputy, Timur Ivanov, and several other senior military officers were arrested on corruption charges, and other senior Defense Ministry officials lost their posts.

Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff since 2012, has retained his post so far. The 68-year-old military officer directly led Russian military operations in Ukraine.