International Criminal Court warrants against Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov relate to their alleged part in attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure

‘The ICC has once again displayed its willingness to bring the most senior alleged perpetrators to justice’ - Veronika Velch

Responding to the International Criminal Court today issuing arrest warrants against former Russian military leaders Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov for their alleged responsibility in directing attacks on civilian objects and causing excessive incidental harm to civilians - as well as the crime against humanity of “inhumane acts” - in Ukraine, Veronika Velch, Amnesty International Ukraine’s Director, said:

“These ICC warrants mark another crucial step towards justice.

“Their issuance helps rebuild trust in international law and the institutions that uphold it.

“It gives hope to victims of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine that those responsible will be held accountable, no matter how high ranking.

“As Russia continues to conduct missile strikes that are crippling Ukraine’s critical civilian infrastructure, the ICC has once again displayed its willingness to bring the most senior alleged perpetrators to justice.

“We will work to ensure that all those indicted by the ICC are arrested as soon as possible and that justice is done and is victim-focused.

“The international community must increase its efforts to ensure that - along with other Russian officials and military commanders sought by the ICC for trial, including Vladimir Putin - Mr Shoigu and Mr Gerasimov are immediately arrested and surrendered to the ICC if they leave Russia.”

Attacks on energy infrastructure are war crimes

At the time in question (October 2022-March 2023), Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov were Russian defence minister and chief of the general staff of the armed forces, and first deputy minister of defence, respectively. According to the International Criminal Court, there are “reasonable grounds to believe that the two suspects bear responsibility for missile strikes carried out by the forces under their command against the Ukrainian energy infrastructure from at least 10 October 2022 until at least 9 March 2023. During this timeframe, there was an alleged campaign of strikes against numerous electric power plants and sub-stations, which were carried out by the Russian armed forces in multiple locations in Ukraine”.

There are currently 124 states which are party to the Rome Statute and the ICC’s arrest warrants are binding in 125 states (124 states, plus Ukraine which had granted the ICC jurisdiction over its territory for crimes committed there since 2014). On 20 October 2022, Amnesty noted that Russian attacks seriously damaged about 40% of Ukraine’s energy facilities and amounted to war crimes.