©Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The International Criminal Court building in The Hague, Netherlands, January 16, 2019. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo
By Stephanie van den Berg
THE HAGUE (Reuters) – The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for top Russian commanders Sergei Kobylash and Viktor Sokolov for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, it said in a statement on Tuesday.
The International Criminal Court, based in The Hague, said there were reasonable grounds to believe that the two suspects were responsible for “missile attacks carried out by forces under their command against Ukrainian electricity infrastructure from at least 10 October 2022 until at least to March 9, 2023”. “.
This is the second series of arrest warrants against Russian officials linked to the war in Ukraine.
In March last year the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for President Vladimir Putin and Children’s Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova on charges of war crimes related to the abduction of Ukrainian children. The Kremlin rejects the accusations.
The International Criminal Court said Tuesday that attacks on Ukraine’s power grid caused harm to civilians that was clearly excessive compared to any intended military advantage.
Ukrainian prosecutors were already investigating possible war crimes after a winter campaign of airstrikes on Ukrainian energy and utility infrastructure.
Russia denies deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, saying its attacks are all aimed at reducing Kiev’s combat capability.
The Geneva Conventions and additional protocols developed by international tribunals state that parties to a military conflict must distinguish between “civilian objects and military objectives” and that attacks on civilian objects are prohibited.
It seems clear, but some infrastructure owned and used by civilians can also be a military target if it can make an effective contribution to military action or if its destruction offers a definitive military advantage.
Experts say civilian power plants or railways could fall into this category.