Former Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and current chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov have been charged with war crimes directing attacks against civilian infrastructure, causing excessive incidental harm to civilians or civilian objects, and crimes against humanity for inhumane acts. The two warrants were issued upon reasonable grounds to believe the pair were responsible for Russian missile strikes carried out against a Ukrainian electric infrastructure between October 2022 and March 2023, according to an ICC announcement. “During this time-frame, a large number of strikes against numerous electric power plants and sub-stations were carried out by the Russian armed forces in multiple locations in Ukraine,” said the ICC. Under international humanitarian law, in war, armed force against “civilians and other protected persons” is prohibited, the court explained. The ICC alleges that Shoigu and Gerasimov carried out multiple intentional attacks against Ukraine’s civilian population, adding that the anticipated civilian harm would have been clearly excessive to any military advantage gained from the strikes. “All those engaged in such conflicts must follow the baseline rules of conduct reflected in international humanitarian law. This law provides protection to all, and gives equal value to all lives,” ICC Prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan said in a statement. “As I have repeatedly emphasized, no individual, anywhere in the world, should feel they can act with impunity. And no person, anywhere in the world, should feel they are deserving of less protection than others.” Last year, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Children's Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova on charges of alleged unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children. There are 124 member nations of the ICC, but dozens of countries are not ICC parties, including China, India, Israel, Russia, and the United States. Following World War II, the first international war crimes tribunal — known as the Nuremberg Trials — was established to prosecute top Nazi officials. By the 1990s, many countries sought a permanent court to bring accountability to the perpetrators of the world’s most serious crimes. The ICC’s founding treaty was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1998. Following its ratification by more than 60 countries, it was enacted in 2002.A pre-trial chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued two arrest warrrants for senior Russian officials over alleged international crimes.
