The Hague court today, March 5, 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.
This was reported by the International Criminal Court.
It is noted that the Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for two individuals, namely Sergei Ivanovich Kobylash and Viktor Nikolaevich Sokolov, in the context of the war in Ukraine regarding alleged crimes committed from at least October 10, 2022, to at least March 9, 2023.
The court stated that Sergei Ivanovich Kobylash, who was the commander of the long-range aviation of the Aerospace Forces at the relevant time, and Viktor Nikolaevich Sokolov, who was the commander of the Black Sea Fleet at the relevant time, are responsible for war crimes in Ukraine.
It involves strikes on civilian objects in Ukraine and war crimes in the form of causing excessive incidental damage to civilian populations or civilian objects, as well as crimes against humanity in the form of inhumane acts according to the Rome Statute.
"There are reasonable grounds to believe they bear individual criminal responsibility for the aforementioned crimes for (i) having committed the acts jointly and/or through others (article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute), (ii) ordering the commission of the crimes, and/or (iii) for their failure to exercise proper control over the forces under their command (article 28(a) of the Rome Statute)," the court said in a statement.
The two arrest warrants were issued based on requests submitted by the prosecution. The Pre-Trial Chamber II found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the two suspects are responsible for missile strikes carried out by their subordinates on the Ukrainian electricity infrastructure from at least October 10, 2022, to March 9, 2023.
During this period, there was a likely campaign of strikes on numerous power stations and substations, carried out by Russian armed forces at several locations in Ukraine.
The Pre-Trial Chamber II concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the anticipated strikes were directed at civilian objects, and for those objects that could have been considered military objects at the time, the expected collateral damage to the civilian population would have been clearly excessive compared to the anticipated military advantage.
"There are reasonable grounds to believe that the suspects also bear responsibility for the crime against humanity of ‘other inhumane acts […] intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health’, as per article 7(1)(k) of the Rome Statute.,'" the ICC added.
