Lieutenant General Sergei Kobylash and Admiral Viktor Sokolov wanted in relation to attacks on electricity power plants and sub-stations

‘The ICC has served notice that those alleged to have committed war crimes will be brought to justice, no matter their rank’ - Erica Guevara Rosas   

Responding to the International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants against Lieutenant General Sergei Kobylash and Admiral Viktor Sokolov of the Russian Armed Forces in relation to Russian attacks on Ukrainian electricity power plants and sub-stations during 2022 and 2023, Erica Guevara Rosas, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research, Advocacy and Policy, said: 

“By issuing arrest warrants for Kobylash and Sokolov, the ICC has demonstrated that it will pursue cases to the top of the chain of command.  

“As Russia conducts missile strikes that continue to decimate Ukraine’s critical civilian infrastructure, the ICC has served notice that those alleged to have committed war crimes will be brought to justice, no matter their rank.  

 

“The ICC’s arrest warrants rely entirely on being carried out by states. Therefore, in addition to ICC fugitives President Putin and Ms Lvova-Belova, the international community must ensure that  Mr Kobylash or Mr Sokolov are immediately arrested and surrendered to the ICC if they leave Russia.”

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 electric 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 countries who are party to the Rome Statute, and arrest warrants are binding in 125 countries (Ukraine has granted the International Criminal Court jurisdiction over its territory for crimes committed there since 2014).