The former Russian Defense Minister and the Chief of Staff are notably accused of being responsible for war crimes consisting of directing attacks against civilian objects.
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The International Criminal Court announced on Tuesday June 25 that it had issued arrest warrants against Russian Chief of Staff Valeriy Guerassimov and former Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, dismissed by Vladimir Putin in mid-May. They are both accused of being responsible for the war crimes of directing attacks against civilian objects and causing excessive accidental harm to civilians, as well as the crime against humanity of“inhumane acts”said the ICC in a press release.
Location in #Ukraine: #ICC judges issue arrest warrants against Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu and Valery Vasilyevich Gerasimov. Learn more ⤵️ https://t.co/fEbWyOnTsC
— Int’l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) June 25, 2024
The ICC, which sits in The Hague, considers “that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the two suspects bear responsibility for missile strikes carried out by the Russian armed forces against Ukrainian electricity infrastructure between at least October 10, 2022 and at least March 9, 2023”. She also considers “that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the alleged strikes were directed against civilian objects and that, for installations which could have been considered military objectives at the time of the events, the expected incidental civilian damage would have been clearly excessive in relation to the expected military advantage”.
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in March last year, a move rejected by Moscow. In response, Russia issued its own arrest warrant for the ICC president.
While the ICC does not have its own police force to execute arrest warrants, it relies on the judicial systems of its 124 member states to carry them out. In theory, anyone who is the subject of an arrest warrant should be arrested if they travel to the territory of a Member State.
Vladimir Putin has traveled abroad, including to Kyrgyzstan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – which are not members of the ICC. However, he missed a BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) meeting in South Africa, which theoretically would have been forced to carry out the mandate.