The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for former Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov on charges of international crimes, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
The court stated Tuesday, June 25, that the two were accused of two war crimes: ordering assaults on civilian targets and inflicting severe incidental harm to civilians or damage to civilian objects. They have also been accused of perpetrating crimes against humanity.
Ukrainian officials applauded the announcement on Tuesday. President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the result demonstrates that “no military rank or cabinet door can shield Russian criminals from accountability.”
Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s human rights advocate, said the ICC judgement brought Ukraine one step closer to justice.
“Sooner or later, a just punishment will overtake every war criminal!” he wrote in a Telegram post.
According to the Russian state news agency TASS, the Security Council of Russia, which is now led by Shoigu, declared the ICC judgement “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 two orders boost the overall number of top Russian officials wanted for war crimes to four, after the ICC’s previous arrest warrants for President Vladimir Putin and Russian official Maria Lvova-Belova for an alleged conspiracy to relocate Ukrainian minors to Russia.
Shoigu, a longtime Putin friend, served as the country’s defence minister for 12 years.
The arrest orders placed Shoigu and Gerasimov on the ICC’s wanted list, albeit they may never face prosecution.
The court does not conduct trials in absentia, and Moscow is unlikely to send them over.
The ICC is an independent organisation based in The Hague, Netherlands, and was established by a treaty known as the Rome Statute.
The convention is signed by 124 countries, but not by the United States, Russia, or Ukraine.
A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.
Nnamdi Okoli
