The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants on Tuesday for former Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, the current military chief of staff, on accusations of war crimes in Ukraine.
Both are allegedly responsible for "directing attacks" on civilian targets in Ukraine.
The ICC judges said there were sufficient grounds to believe that Shoigu and Gerasimov bore individual criminal responsibility, either by ordering the attacks for others to carry out or failing to exercise proper control over forces under their command.
Specifically, the court alleged that Shoigu and Gerasimov were responsible for missile strikes on Ukraine's electricity infrastructure from at least October 10, 2022, until at least March 9, 2023.
"During this time-frame, a large number of strikes against numerous electric power plants and sub-stations were carried out by the Russian armed forces in multiple locations in Ukraine," the court statement said.
The ICC determined that the "alleged campaign of strikes constitutes a course of conduct involving the multiple commission of acts against a civilian population, carried out pursuant to a State policy."
Given this, "there are reasonable grounds to believe that the suspects intentionally caused great suffering or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health, thus bearing criminal responsibility for the crime against humanity of other inhumane acts," the court wrote in a statement.
Russia says the West is behind court decisions
Russia's National Security Council, where Shoigu is now secretary after being dismissed as defence minister in May, called the decision ridiculous and insignificant, saying the ICC has no jurisdiction over Russia.
The court has no enforcement mechanism, but all state parties to the court are obliged to arrest the wanted people and hand them over to the court if they are on their territory. Russia is not a member of the ICC.
The judgement "was made in the context of the West's hybrid war against our country," according to the Security Council statement published by Russian news agencies.
Zelensky praises warrants, wants more to come
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, writing on X, welcomed the arrest warrants for the "reckless bombings," saying both Russians "are accused of committing heinous crimes against civilians in Ukraine," which Russia is continuing to commit.
He said he hoped to see "every criminal" involved in these strikes behind bars. The ICC decision shows that "no military rank or Cabinet door can shield Russian criminals from accountability."
He is hoping for additional arrest warrants "to take away Russia's sense of impunity ... Accountability is the only way to put a stop to them."
Shoigu was dismissed as defence minister by Russian President Vladimir Putin after having served in the post since 2012. The court had also previously issued an arrest warrant for Putin for alleged war crimes, including the forced deportation of Ukrainian children.