Sergei Kobylash and Viktor Sokolov are responsible for the war crime of attacking civilian objects, as well as a crime against humanity.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has issued arrest warrants for the commander of the Russian long-range aviation, Sergei Kobylash, and the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Viktor Sokolov. It was reported on the court’s website on Tuesday, March 5.
It is indicated that the relevant warrants were issued by the Pre-Trial Chamber of the Second International Criminal Court in the context of the war in Ukraine regarding possible crimes committed from at least October 10, 2022 to at least March 9, 2023 .
The court was told that Kobylash and Sokolov are responsible for the war crime of attacking civilian objects, the war crime of causing excessive unintentional harm to civilians or damage to civilian objects, as well which is also a crime against humanity of inhumane acts under Article of the Rome Charter.
“There are reasonable grounds to believe that they are individually criminally responsible for the aforementioned crimes for committing acts with and through others, ordering the commission of crimes and for failing to adequately control over the forces under their command,” the statement said.
Two arrest warrants were issued based on petitions filed with prosecutors. Pre-Trial Chamber II found that there were reasonable grounds to believe that the two suspects were responsible for missile attacks carried out by their subordinate forces on Ukrainian energy infrastructure between at least October 10 , 2022, and March 9, 2023.
The court concluded that there were reasonable grounds to believe that the intended attacks were directed against civilian objects, and for objects that at the relevant time could qualify as military objectives, the expected collateral that damage to the civilian population was clearly excessive compared to the expected high damage to the military.
“There are reasonable grounds to believe that the suspects are also responsible for a crime against humanity, which consists of “other inhumane acts that intentionally cause severe suffering or serious harm to bodily, mental or physical health ,” the court added.
As you know, on March 17, 2023, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, accusing him of illegally deporting thousands of children from Ukraine. A warrant was also issued against children’s ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova.
The Kremlin then hastened to declare that the Russian Federation does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC and that they consider its decision “worthless”. At the same time, Putin did not go to the BRICS summit in South Africa because he was threatened with arrest there on an outstanding warrant.
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.