<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/25/icc-issues-arrest-warrants-for-russias-sergei-shoigu-and-valery-gerasimov>
"The international criminal court (ICC) at The Hague has issued arrest warrants
for Russia’s ex-minister of defence and current army chief of staff for alleged
war crimes in Ukraine after a missile campaign targeting Ukrainian power plants
and other civilian infrastructure during the full-scale invasion.
Ex-minister of defence Sergei Shoigu and the chief of the general staff of the
Russian armed forces, Valery Gerasimov, are accused of the war crimes of
directing attacks at civilian objects and of causing excessive incidental harm
to civilians or damage to civilian objects. They are also accused of crimes
against humanity.
The Hague issued warrants for their arrest, but they are unlikely to be able to
serve them as the pair are in Russia, which is not a party to the ICC and has
denounced the court. Ukraine is not a member of the ICC but has given the court
jurisdiction to prosecute war crimes committed on its territory since 2022.
Shoigu was removed as the minister of defence last month but has remained a
senior government official as the head of Russia’s security council.
The court has previously issued warrants for the arrest of Vladimir Putin and
Russia’s human rights ombudsman, Maria Lvova-Belova, for their role in the
forcible deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia. A number of the children
have been adopted by Russian officials or put up for adoption under false
identities.
The Ukrainian president, Volodomyr Zelenskiy, said the ICC’s decision to issue
the warrants against Shoigu and Gerasimov was “a clear indication that justice
for Russian crimes against Ukrainians is inevitable”.
He wrote on Telegram: “Every criminal involved in the planning and execution of
these strikes must know that justice will be served. And we do hope to see them
behind bars.” He added that he looked forward to “more arrest warrants in order
to deprive Russia of its sense of impunity”."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
