\n<\/p>\n
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Russia’s former defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, and the chief of general staff, Valery Gerasimov. <\/p>\n
The ICC judges said the two men were suspected of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during the war in Ukraine. <\/p>\n
The court said there were grounds to believe that Mr Shoigu and Mr Gerasimov bore individual criminal responsibility for attacks on civilian targets between October 2022 and March 2023. <\/p>\n
They’re accused of ordering the assaults or failing to control the forces under their command. <\/p>\n
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said the ICC’s decision was “a clear indication that justice for Russian crimes against Ukrainians is inevitable.”<\/p>\n
“Every criminal involved in the planning and execution of these strikes must know that justice will be served. And we do hope to see them behind bars.”<\/p>\n
Russia’s Security Council said the ICC’s arrest warrant against Mr Shoigu was “insignificant” and part of a hybrid war against Moscow.<\/p>\n
Mr Shoigu, a long-standing ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was removed as defence minister last month<\/a> – a post he had held since 2012. He is now the secretary of the Security Council.<\/p>\n