ICC judges issued arrest warrants for Shoigu and Gerasimov because of the war with Ukraine

25 June, 2024 Sergey Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov. Photo from open sources The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for former Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov.

This is stated on the ICC website. They are suspected of involvement in war crimes during the large-scale invasion of Ukraine. The ICC prosecutors believe that Shoigu and Gerasimov are responsible for the missile strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure that were carried out from October 10, 2022, until at least March 9, 2023.

It is noted that during this period, the Russian army struck a large number of power plants and substations in many regions of Ukraine. Two arrest warrants were issued on June 24 at the request of the prosecutor's office. The Pre-Trial Chamber finds that Shoigu and Gerasimov are also responsible for war crimes of striking civilian objects and causing excessive incidental injury to the civilian population or damage to civilian facilities.

The statement states that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the suspects are responsible for crimes against humanity that cause great suffering, significant bodily injury, or mental health. In mid-May, Sergei Shoigu, who had served as Russia's defense minister since 2012, was appointed to another position. He was replaced by Andrey Belousov.

Missile attacks on civilian infrastructure

As previously reported, Ukrainian military intelligence identified Russian servicemen who shelled the territory of Ukraine with cruise missiles.

Photo from open sources

They are involved in war crimes and strikes on the Ukrainian civil infrastructure.

Intelligence officers established that the personnel of the 22nd Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Division of the Russian Aerospace Force Long-Range Aviation Command were directly involved in planning, organizing, and carrying out shelling of Ukraine's territory with Kh-22/Kh-32 air-launched cruise missiles from Tu-22M3 long-range supersonic bombers and Kh-101/Kh-555/Kh-55 from Tu-95MS and Tu-160 strategic bombers.