The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for the former Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, and the current Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov.
These two high-ranking officials join President Vladimir Putin on the ICC’s wanted list.
The ICC, based in The Hague, is now pursuing the arrest of Shoigu and Gerasimov, charging them with crimes related to Russia’s military actions in Ukraine.
According to a press release issued on Tuesday, the court stated that there are “reasonable grounds to believe that the two suspects bear responsibility for missile strikes carried out by the Russian armed forces against the Ukrainian electric infrastructure from at least 10 October 2022 until at least 9 March 2023.”
Shoigu and Gerasimov are accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity for their roles in directing attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.
Shoigu, who was recently reassigned to Russia’s security council, and Gerasimov were among President Putin’s most senior defense officials until Shoigu’s dismissal.
Andrey Belousov has since assumed the position of defense minister.
President Putin also faces an ICC arrest warrant, issued in March 2023, linked to the alleged forced relocation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the ICC has sought the arrest of a total of eight Russian officials.
Despite these warrants, Russia, which is not a full signatory to the ICC, typically does not extradite its citizens, making it uncertain whether these officials will ever stand trial.
The ICC lacks its own police force and relies on member states to carry out arrests.
Although Ukraine is not an ICC member, it has authorized the court to prosecute crimes committed on its territory since the 2014 annexation of Crimea, allowing these indictments to proceed.
The warrants are likely to restrict the international travel of the indicted officials, as they risk arrest if they enter ICC member countries.
