Politics

ICC issues arrest warrants for Russian commanders over war crimes in Ukraine

Photo: Alex Gottschalk/DeFodi Images/Getty Images.
Photo: Alex Gottschalk/DeFodi Images/Getty Images.
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The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for top Russian commanders Sergei Kobylash and Viktor Sokolov over alleged war crimes in Ukraine, as stated in a statement on Tuesday. The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the arrest warrants. Earlier, a Kyiv official had declared the move as being “extremely symbolic.”

The ICC, based in The Hague, stated that there were reasonable grounds to believe that the two suspects were responsible for “missile strikes carried out by the forces under their command against the Ukrainian electric infrastructure from at least 10 October 2022 until at least 9 March 2023.”

“All wars have rules. Those rules bind all without exception,”ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan said, adding that he would continue to seek cooperation from Russia, which has so far refused to engage with the ICC. This is the second set of warrants for the arrest of Russian officials related to the war in Ukraine.

In March last year, the ICC issued warrants for the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Children’s Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova on war crimes charges related to the abduction of Ukrainian children.

The ICC stated on Tuesday that the attacks on Ukraine’s electrical grid caused civilian harm and damage that would have been clearly excessive to any expected military advantage. Ukraine’s prosecutors were already investigating possible war crimes after a winter campaign of air strikes on Ukrainian energy and utilities infrastructure.

The Geneva Conventions and additional protocols shaped by international courts state that parties involved in a military conflict must distinguish between “civilian objects and military objectives,” and that attacks on civilian objects are forbidden.

That seems clear-cut, but some infrastructure owned and used by civilians can also be a military objective if they can make an effective contribution to military action or if their destruction offers a definitive military advantage. Some experts have argued that civilian power plants or railways could fall into this category.

Who are the two Russian commanders?

Kobylash, 58, was the commander of the so-called long-range aviation of the Russian air force at the time of the alleged crimes. Ukrainian military intelligence has said Russian strikes on the densely populated areas in the city of Mariupol were conducted under his command.

Sokolov, 61, was an admiral in the Russian navy who commanded the Black Sea Fleet during the period to which the charges relate, according to the ICC.

Kyiv welcomes the development

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the arrest warrants.

“Every Russian commander who orders strikes against Ukrainian civilians and critical infrastructure must know that justice will be served. Every perpetrator of such crimes must know that they will be held accountable,” he said on the social media platform X. Earlier, Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to President Zelenskyy, had said that the ICC arrest warrants were “extremely symbolic,” and that “...it is obvious that this time Russia will absolutely not be able to avoid responsibility for premeditated and large-scale war crimes.”
Source: Reuters
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