Arrest Warrants Issued for Sergei Ivanovich Kobylash and Viktor Nikolaevich Sokolov in ICC for War Crimes in Ukraine

It is noted that the Pre-Trial Chamber of the II International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for two people, namely Sergei Ivanovich Kobylash and Viktor Nikolaevich Sokolov, in the context of the war in Ukraine regarding probable crimes committed from at least October 10, 2022 to at least March 9 2023.

What are they accused of?

The court said that Sergei Ivanovich Kobylash, who at the relevant time was the commander of long-range aviation of the Aerospace Forces, and Viktor Nikolaevich Sokolov, who at the relevant time was the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, were responsible for a war crime in Ukraine.

It consists of striking civilian objects in Ukraine, and a war crime of causing excessive incidental harm to the civilian population or damage to civilian objects, as well as a crime against humanity of inhumane acts under an article of the Rome Statute.

“There are reasonable grounds to believe that they are individually criminally responsible for the above-mentioned crimes, for committing acts jointly and through others, for ordering the commission of crimes and for failing to exercise proper control over forces under their command,” the court said in a statement. .

Russian military is involved in missile attacks on Ukraine

Two arrest warrants were issued based on petitions filed by the prosecution. 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 electricity infrastructure between at least October 10, 2022, and March 9, 2023.

During this period, there was a likely campaign of attacks on numerous power plants and substations carried out by Russian military forces in several locations in Ukraine.

Pre-Trial Chamber II concluded that there were reasonable grounds to believe that the alleged attacks were directed against civilian objects, and for those objects which at the relevant time could qualify as military objectives, the expected collateral damage to civilians would be clearly excessive compared with expected military advantage.

“There are reasonable grounds to believe that the suspects are also responsible for a crime against humanity, which consists of “other inhumane acts intentionally causing great suffering or serious injury to body, mental or physical health,” the ICC added.

Shelling of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure

From October 2022 until almost March 2023, the Russian occupiers massively shelled the energy system of Ukraine. The invaders tried to cause a blackout.

As a result of numerous Russian attacks, some energy facilities in Ukraine were severely damaged. Therefore, blackouts were in effect in the fall and winter, and citizens were urged to save electricity and not overload the system.

Already at the end of February 2024, the Minister of Energy of Ukraine German Galushchenko announced that the Russian military had changed its tactics of shelling the Ukrainian energy system. Now they are trying to influence the country’s economy through the impression of energy in certain regions.

In May last year, the SBU announced suspicion of Admiral Sokolov for involvement in missile attacks on energy facilities in Ukraine.

And already in the fall, the SBU announced suspicion of General Kobylash for a missile attack on a high-rise building in Uman, Cherkasy region.

2024-03-05 13:28:09


#Hague #court #issued #arrest #warrants #commanders #longrange #aviation #Russian #Black #Sea #Fleet