The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for senior Russian commanders Serhiy Ivanovich Kobylash and Viktor Mykolayovych Sokolov on charges of war crimes during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the ICC website reports. A year ago, the court issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, accused of deporting Ukrainian children.

Kobylash is the chief of the Russian long-range aviation, and Sokolov was the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. The arrest warrants were issued for “alleged offenses committed between at least October 10, 2022 and at least March 9, 2023.”

Serhii Ivanovich Kobylash, born on April 1, 1965, lieutenant general of the Russian Armed Forces, who at that time was the commander of the Long-Range Aviation of the Air and Space Forces, and Sokolov Viktor Kinolaevich, born on April 4, 1962, admiral. the Russian Navy, which was in command of the Black Sea Fleet at the time, alleged that they were responsible for the war crime of attacking civilian targets and the war crime of causing excessive casual injury to civilians or damaging civilian objects. as well as crimes against humanity through inhumane acts,” the International Criminal Court said in a statement.

According to the ISS, there is sufficient reason to believe that the two are responsible for missile strikes carried out by forces under their command against Ukrainian electrical infrastructure from at least October 10, 2022, to at least March 9, 2023.

“During this period of time, there was an alleged campaign of attacks on numerous power plants and substations, which were carried out by the Russian armed forces in several places in Ukraine. Pre-Trial Chamber II found that there were reasonable grounds to believe that the alleged strikes were directed against civilian objects and, for those installations that could have been qualified as military objects at the relevant time, the expected casualty and damage to the civilian population would have been clearly excessive compared to the expected military advantage,” the judges of the Hague Court declare.

“Pre-Trial Chamber II also held that the alleged campaign of strikes qualifies as conduct involving multiple acts against the civilian population in accordance with public policy within the meaning of Article 7 of the Statute. Thus, there is sufficient reason to believe that the suspects are also responsible for the crime against humanity of “other inhumane acts”. […] who intentionally causes great suffering or serious harm to body or mental or physical health” under Article 7(1)(k) of the Rome Statute,” the statement said.

The Ukrainian prosecutor’s office has already investigated possible war crimes after the winter campaign of airstrikes against Ukraine’s energy and utility infrastructure. Russia denies that it is deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, saying that all of its attacks are aimed at reducing Kyiv’s military capabilities.

Vladimir Putin already has an arrest warrant issued by the Hague Court

In March of last year, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, charging him with the war crime of illegally deporting at least 100 children from Ukraine.

Separately, the court issued warrants for Maria Lviv-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, on the same charges.

Moscow then reacted through the spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, who dryly stated that “the decisions of the International Criminal Court have no significance for our country, including from a legal point of view.” “Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and has no obligations under it.”

Ukraine said that this was a historic decision, but that it was “just the beginning.” High-ranking officials of Ukraine highly praised the decision of the International Court of Justice, and the Prosecutor General of the country Andriy Kostin called it “a historic decision for Ukraine and the entire system of international law.”

What is the Rome Statute?

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (often known as the Statute of the International Criminal Court or the Rome Statute) is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome on July 17, 1998 and entered into force on July 1, 2002.

The International Court of Justice is responsible for four main crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggression. Neither Ukraine nor Russia were parties to the Rome Statute and did not ratify its founding text.

Russia signed the Rome Statute in 2000, but never ratified it to become a member of the ICC, and finally withdrew its signature in 2016.

At the time, Russia was under international pressure over its seizure and unilateral annexation of Crimea in 2014, as well as a campaign of airstrikes in Syria to support President Bashar al-Assad’s war against rebels.