ICC issues arrest warrants for two top Russian commanders

THE HAGUE: The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for top Russian commanders Sergei Kobylash and Viktor Sokolov for suspected war crimes in Ukraine, it said in a statement on Tuesday.

The ICC, based in The Hague, said there were reasonable grounds to believe that the two were responsible 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”.

This is the second set of warrants for the arrest of Russian officials related to the war in Ukraine.

Russia’s defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In March last year, the ICC issued warrants for the arrest of President Vladimir Putin and Children’s Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova on war crimes charges related to the abduction of Ukrainian children.Moscow denies war crimes in Ukraine and has dismissed previous ICC war crime arrest warrants as part of a biased Western campaign to discredit Russia. Russian officials say such warrants have little real world impact as Moscow is not a member of the court and neither are other major powers, such as the United States and China.

Kobylash, 58, was the commander of the so-called long-range aviation of the Russian air force at the time of the alleged crimes. Ukrainian military intelligence has said Russian strikes on the densely populated areas in the city of Mariupol were conducted under his command.

Sokolov, 61, was an admiral in the Russian navy who commanded the Black Sea Fleet during the period to which the charges relate, according to the ICC.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed the arrest warrants.“Every Russian commander who orders strikes against Ukrainian civilians and critical infrastructure must know that justice will be served. Every perpetrator of such crimes must know that they will be held accountable,” he said on the social media platform X.