ICC issues arrest warrants for Russian army chief, former defence minister
Al Jazeera
Court accuses them of war crimes and crimes against humanity for directing attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Russia’s former defence minister and its military chief for attacking civilian targets in Ukraine.
The Hague-based court said in a statement on Tuesday that warrants were issued because judges considered there were reasonable grounds to believe that the men were responsible for “missile strikes carried out by the Russian armed forces against the Ukrainian electric infrastructure” from October 10, 2022, until at least March 9, 2023.
The ICC accused former Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and General Valery Gerasimov of war crimes and the crime against humanity of inhumane acts.
“During this time-frame, a large number of strikes against numerous electric power plants and sub-stations were carried out by the Russian armed forces in multiple locations in Ukraine,” the court statement said.
The judges “found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the alleged strikes were directed against civilian objects”, it added.
