Wednesday, June 26, 2024 - 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.
The court said Tuesday, June 25 that 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.
Ukrainian officials welcomed the announcement on Tuesday.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the decision shows that “no military rank or
cabinet door can shield Russian criminals from accountability.”
Ukraine's human rights leader, Dmytro Lubinets said the ICC
decision meant Ukraine was a step closer to getting justice.
“Sooner or later, a just
punishment will overtake every war criminal!” he said in a statement posted on
his Telegram.
Russian state 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 two warrants bring 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.
Shoigu, a long-time close ally of Putin, was the country’s
defense minister for 12 years.
The arrest warrants put Shoigu and Gerasimov on the ICC’s
wanted list, although they might never stand trial.
The court does not conduct trials in absentia and it is
unlikely they would be handed over by Moscow.
Located in The Hague, Netherlands, and created by a treaty
called the Rome Statute, the ICC operates independently.
124 countries are parties to the treaty but the US, Russia
and Ukraine are not.
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