The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for two Russian military commanders.
One of them is the commander of long-range aviation of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General Sergei Kobylash.
The second is the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Viktor Sokolov.
The TASS agency reported this with reference to the press release of the mentioned court.
Reason for decision
According to this document, high-ranking officers were suspected of involvement in “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity.”
The ICC explained: the defendants, based on the acts they are accused of, committed these crimes during the period of the Russian-Ukrainian confrontation.
The court is convinced that they were related to missile attacks on Ukrainian electrical infrastructure in the period from October 10, 2022 to March 9, 2023.
During this time period, the Russian army was likely conducting a “campaign of attacks on numerous power plants and substations” in Ukraine, according to the press release.
Question about alleged strikes
The court believes that these alleged strikes “were directed against civilian objects.”
And for those objects that at the relevant time could qualify as military objectives, the expected collateral damage to the civilian population would be clearly excessive compared to the expected military advantage, the document says.
ICC member states are required to take measures to detain on their territory persons against whom arrest warrants have been issued.
If such detention is carried out, these persons must be handed over to the court.
Previously, Scholz issued an arrest warrant for Putin to the ICC.
