Media reports say the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for former Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and the Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov for alleged international crimes, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
CNN reports that the court said yesterday the pair were allegedly responsible for two war crimes: directing attacks at civilian objects and causing excessive incidental harm to civilians or damage to civilian objects. They are also accused of committing crimes against humanity.
According to CNN, Ukrainian officials welcomed the announcement on Tuesday. President Volodymyr Zelensky reportedly said the decision shows that “no military rank or cabinet door can shield Russian criminals from accountability.” The country’s human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets was quoted as saying that the ICC decision meant Ukraine was a step closer to getting justice.
Meanwhile, Russian state-run news agency TASS quoted the Security Council of Russia, the government body currently headed by Shoigu, as calling the ICC decision “null and void.”
“It is meaningless, as the ICC’s jurisdiction does not extend to Russia, and [the decision] was made within the framework of the West’s hybrid war against our country,” TASS quoted the body as saying.
The ICC does not conduct trials in absentia, so they would either have to be handed over by Russia or arrested outside of Russia. It is unlikely they would be handed over by Moscow.
The two warrants have brought the total number of top Russian officials wanted for war crimes to four as the ICC has previously issued arrest warrants for President Vladimir Putin and Russian official Maria Lvova-Belova for an alleged scheme to deport Ukrainian children to Russia.
Located in The Hague, Netherlands, and created by a treaty called the Rome Statute first brought before the United Nations, the International Criminal Court operates independently.
Most countries of the world – 123 of them – are parties to the treaty, but there are very large and notable exceptions, including Russia and the United States.
