The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant Tuesday for Russia’s former defense minister and a high-ranking general for war crimes in Ukraine.
The Hague-based court accused former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov of attacking civilian targets during Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in a bombing campaign that “intentionally caused great suffering or serious injury.”
“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,” between October 2022 and March 2023, the court said in a statement.
“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,” the court added.
The ICC issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian official Maria Lvova-Belova in March 2023 for deporting Ukrainian children to Russia.
This developing story is being updated.