Hague court issues arrest warrants for Russian Air Force and Black Sea Fleet commanders

On March 5, the International Criminal Court issued warrants for the arrest of Russian long-range aviation commander Sergey Kobylash and Black Sea Fleet commander Viktor Sokolov. 

According to the ICC, the decision was approved as part of an investigation into potential war crimes committed by Russian occupiers on Ukrainian territory from October 10, 2022, to March 9, 2023, Rubryka reports.

The International Criminal Court issued both arrest warrants based on requests submitted by the prosecution.

"There are reasonable grounds to believe that the two suspects bear responsibility for missile strikes carried out by the forces under their command against the Ukrainian electric infrastructure from at least 10 October 2022 until at least 9 March 2023," the statement said.

The ICC believes that Kobylash and Sokolov are also responsible for crimes against humanity, consisting of "other inhumane acts […] intentionally causing severe suffering, serious bodily injury, or damage to mental or physical health" under Article 7 of the Rome Statute.

Since October 2022, Russia has been actively launching massive missile strikes on the Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

Ukraine experienced over ten waves of extensive Russian air strikes, during which the Russians deployed dozens of missiles of various types and ranges.

Due to the power capacity deficit in the energy system, the Ministry of Energy had to resort to power outages for consumers, but the Russians failed to achieve their goal of causing a complete blackout in Ukraine.

On March 17, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and Russian children's ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova. They are accused of unlawfully deporting children from Ukraine to Russia during the period from February 24, 2022.