Two senior Russian officers are being prosecuted for war crimes and crimes against humanity. This is only the second time the International Criminal Court has publicly announced arrest warrants related to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The International Criminal Court announced on Tuesday March 5 the issuance of arrest warrants against the Russian lieutenant general Sergei Ivanovich Kobylashcommander of the Aerospace Forces’ long-range aviation at the time of the alleged crimes.
The admiral Viktor Kinolayevich Sokolovcommander of the Black Sea Fleet, is also wanted.
In the crosshairs of ICC judges: attacks committed against civilian infrastructure “in the context of the situation in Ukraine for alleged crimes committed between at least October 10, 2022 and at least March 9, 2023“. Russia’s campaign of strikes on power plants across the country in the winter of 2022/2023 is at the heart of the investigation.
“I have repeatedly emphasized that those responsible for actions that affect innocent civilians or protected objects must know that their conduct is subject to a set of rules reflected in international humanitarian law.“ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan said in a statement.”All wars have rules. These rules apply to everyone without exception.“
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the arrest warrants should serve as a warning to other Russian top brass.
“Any Russian commander who orders strikes against Ukrainian civilians and critical infrastructure must know that justice will be served. All perpetrators of such crimes must know that they will be held accountable“, wrote Volodymyr Zelensky on X, formerly Twitter.
“_Acts against a civilian population in application of a policy_state“
The court said judges who reviewed the evidence presented by prosecutors said there were “reasonable grounds to believe“that the two men are responsible for the”missile strikes carried out by forces under their command against Ukrainian power infrastructure” since October 2022.
“During this period, there was an alleged campaign of strikes against numerous power plants and substations, carried out by the Russian armed forces in many locations in Ukraine“, the court said.
Russian forces have repeatedly targeted Ukrainian infrastructure since launching their invasion more than two years ago.
The court declared that the campaign “may be characterized as conduct involving the multiple commission of acts against a civilian population, in application of a State policy“.
The judges found “reasonable grounds to believe that the alleged strikes were directed against civilian objects and that, for installations which could have been qualified as military objectives at the time of the events, the indirect damage and harm caused to civilians would have been clearly excessive in relation to the expected military advantage“.
Sergei Kobylash and Viktor Sokolov, two high-ranking Russian officers
Sergei Kobylash heads the Russian Air Force’s Long-Range Aviation Command, which reportedly includes the Tu-95 propeller bombers and Tu-160 supersonic bombers.
Russian war bloggers reported that Viktor Sokolov was dismissed from his post last month, although there has been no official confirmation yet. The announcement of Viktor Sokolov’s dismissal follows the loss of a Russian amphibious assault ship and a missile-carrying corvette, sunk by Ukrainian maritime drones last month.
There is little chance that either suspect will be brought to justice in The Hague. Russia is not a member of the international tribunal, does not recognize its jurisdiction and refuses to hand over suspects indicted by the tribunal.
The court did not release details of the warrants, “in order to protect witnesses and safeguard investigations.”
However, it indicated that it had made the mandates public while being “aware that behavior similar to that targeted in the present situation, which constitutes violations of international humanitarian law, would be underway” and specifying that this publication “could contribute to preventing the commission of other crimes.”
When it issued the arrest warrant against Mr Putin last year, the Court also issued another against Maria Lvova-Belova, Commissioner for Children’s Rights at the from the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, based on the same accusations of involvement in child abductions.