ICC issues arrest warrants for Russian army chief, former defence minister

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Russia’s former defence minister and its military chief for attacking civilian targets in Ukraine.

The Hague-based court said in a statement on Tuesday that warrants were issued because judges considered there were reasonable grounds to believe that the men were responsible for “missile strikes carried out by the Russian armed forces against the Ukrainian electric infrastructure” from October 10, 2022, until at least March 9, 2023.

“For those installations that may have qualified as military objectives at the relevant time, the expected incidental civilian harm and damage would have been clearly excessive to the anticipated military advantage,” it added.

Russia has repeatedly said Ukraine’s energy infrastructure is a legitimate military target and denies targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure.

In March this year, the court issued arrest warrants for two high-ranking Russian military officers on charges linked to attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine that judges said happened “pursuant to a state policy”.

Reporting from Amsterdam, Al Jazeera’s Step Vassen said the court’s announcement was unexpected as there was no indication earlier that the arrest warrants in question were requested.

“This means all the countries they [the two Russian officials] will travel to that signed the Rome Statue will have to arrest them and bring them to The Hague,” she said, adding that the officials would avoid the countries which are party to the treaty.

Russia is not a member of the court, does not recognise its jurisdiction and refuses to hand over suspects.

Putin replaced Shoigu as defence minister in a cabinet shake-up in May as he began his fifth term as president. He appointed Shoigu as secretary of Russia’s Security Council.