Photo credit: the Street Journal
The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Russia’s former defence minister, Sergei Shoigu and the chief of general staff, Valery Gerasimov.
According to ICC judges, the two men are suspected of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during the war in Ukraine.
The court said there are grounds to believe that Mr Shoigu and Mr Gerasimov bore individual criminal responsibility for attacks on civilian targets between October 2022 and March 2023.
They’re accused of ordering assaults or failing to control the forces under their command.
Russia’s Security Council said the ICC’s arrest warrant against Mr Shoigu was “insignificant” and part of a hybrid war against Moscow.
Mr Shoigu, a long-standing ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was removed as defence minister last month. He had been holding the post since 2012. He is now the secretary of the Security Council.
Mr Putin himself is on the ICC’s wanted list.
