Round Two

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The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued warrants this week for two Russian military leaders accused of war crimes in Ukraine, the second time the Netherlands-based court has ordered the arrest of Moscow officials since the conflict began two years ago, the Washington Post reported.

Tuesday’s warrants targeted Lt. Gen. Sergei Ivanovich Kobylash and Adm. Viktor Kinolayevich Sokolov: At the time of the alleged crimes, Kobylash was serving as the commander of long-range aviation of the aerospace force in Russia’s armed forces, while Sokolov was commander of the Russian navy’s Black Sea fleet.

The ICC’s pretrial chamber found that the two suspects are responsible for the missile attacks carried out against Ukraine’s electricity infrastructure from October 2022 to March 2023.

It alleged that the military commanders directed strikes at civilian objects and caused excessive incidental harm to civilians or damage to civilian objects – both war crimes under the Rome Statute, the international treaty that founded the ICC.

Kobylash and Sokolov are also accused of inhumane acts, a crime against humanity under the statute.

The latest arrest orders come a year after the ICC issued warrants for a number of Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, for war crimes of the “unlawful deportation” and “unlawful transfer” of children from occupied areas.

Even so, Russia does not recognize the jurisdiction of the Hague-based tribunal and the court does not try people in absentia.

Analysts said that while the earlier warrants had mostly a symbolic impact, they have limited Putin’s travel to countries that recognize the ICC’s jurisdiction.

Last year, the Russian leader skipped the BRICS summit in South Africa shortly after the warrants were made public.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the new warrants, but Kremlin officials reiterated that Russia does not recognize the ICC’s jurisdiction, Reuters added.