The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for two prominent Russian officials who are accused of violating international law during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Why it matters: The ICC has alleged that former Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu and Russian general Valery Gerasimov committed war crimes and crimes against humanity for targeting critical infrastructure and Ukrainian civilians.
The ICC has issued other arrest warrants against Russian officials for their roles in the war in Ukraine, but Tuesday’s warrants are significant because they incriminate such high-ranking officials.
Driving the news: The ICC arrest warrants allege that Shoigu and Gerasimov have committed two offenses: “directing attacks at civilian objects” and “causing excessive incidental harm to civilians or damage to civilian objects,” per a press release from the court.
These alleged crimes are connected to Russian strikes against Ukrainian electric infrastructure from October 2022 and March 2023.
The two men are also accused of crimes against humanity.
“There are reasonable grounds to believe that the suspects intentionally caused great suffering or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health, thus bearing criminal responsibility for the crime against humanity of other inhumane acts,” the ICC said.
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Article URL : https://www.axios.com/2024/06/25/icc-arrest-warrants-russia-ukraine