International Criminal Court issues arrest warrant Russia's Shoigu and Gerasimov

[June 25, 2024]  By Stephanie van den Berg
 
THE HAGUE (Reuters) - The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Sergei Shoigu, the former Russian defense minister, and leading Russian general Valery Gerasimov on Tuesday for alleged crimes committed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine.   

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov attend a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia February 27, 2022. Sputnik/Aleksey Nikolskyi/Kremlin via REUTERS/File Photo

In a press release, the court said judges had found there were "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".

The Russian officials were suspected of having committed war crimes and crimes against humanity for directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects in Ukraine.

Russia, which like Ukraine is not a member of the ICC, has repeatedly said Ukraine's energy infrastructure is a legitimate military target and denies targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure.

(Reporting by Benoit Van Overstraeten and Stephanie Van den Berg; Editing by Alison Williams and Alex Richardson)

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