International Criminal Court wants Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov arrested

The pre-trial chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for former Russian Defense Minister, now Secretary of the Security Council Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov. Moscow called the decision insignificant.

Commenting on the ICC's decision to issue an arrest warrant for Shoigu, the Russian Security Council noted that the move was just another element of the Western hybrid war.

"They are wasting their breath. The jurisdiction of the ICC does not extend to Russia. The decision was made as part of the hybrid war of the West against our country," the Russian Security Council said in a statement.

Shoigu and Gerasimov accused of crimes against humanity

The report from the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber said that Shoigu and Gerasimov should be held accountable for attacks on civilian infrastructure, as well as for crimes against humanity that the Russian army committed from October 10, 2022 to at least March 9, 2023. During this time, the Russian forces carried out a large number of attacks targeting numerous power plants in Ukraine.

Russia, as well as a number of other countries including Belarus, Egypt, India, China, Saudi Arabia, the United States and Turkey, does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

On March 17, 2023, the ICC pre-trial chamber issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Children's Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova. The ICC said that the decision was allegedly related to the illegal evacuation of children from Ukraine.

Speaking about the ICC decision, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was "hard to even think about.” Russia is one of the largest countries in the world and one of the largest nuclear powers, he said.

"It's hard to imagine that anyone would even seriously think about using this order against the president of the Russian Federation,” the Kremlin spokesman said.

Subsequently, the Russian Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against ICC prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan and trial judges Tomoko Akane, Rosario Salvatore Aitala and Sergio Gerardo Ugalde Godinez for issuing the arrest warrant for Putin.