The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for two top Russian military officers on Tuesday, accusing them of war crimes in Ukraine for targeting civilians and destroying crucial energy infrastructure.
Lt. Gen. Sergei Ivanovich Kobylash and Adm. Viktor Nikolayevich Sokolov are accused of personally being responsible for numerous missile strikes on electrical power plants and substations between October 2022 and March 2023. These wintertime strikes were deemed war crimes as they caused excessive harm to civilians and damage to civilian objects.
General Kobylash, a senior Russian Air Force officer, commanded the country’s long-range aviation forces during the specified time period, while Admiral Sokolov was the commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. The two officers are also accused of crimes against humanity for intentionally causing suffering and injuries in the general population.
The court’s statement did not disclose full details of the warrants to protect witnesses and ongoing investigations. The International Criminal Court, based in The Hague, is the only permanent international court mandated to address genocide, wars of aggression, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
This is the second time arrest warrants have been issued relating to the war in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February 2022. Last year, warrants were issued for Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, and its commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, for the abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine welcomed the arrest warrants, stating that every Russian commander who orders strikes against Ukrainian civilians and critical infrastructure must know that justice will be served. Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Andriy Kostin, described the crimes as being committed on a massive scale with no evident military purpose.
While the International Criminal Court has no independent enforcement powers, supporters believe the warrants are more than political gestures and can serve as building blocks for a broader legal framework after the war. Officials in Moscow have denied committing war crimes in Ukraine and dismissed the arrest warrants and investigations as meaningless.
Although Ukraine has not formally signed on to the International Criminal Court, it has granted the court jurisdiction over its territory. Russia is not a member of the court, but crimes committed on Ukrainian soil by Russian citizens can still be targeted.
