The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Sergei Shoigu, the former Russian defense minister, and leading Russian general Valery Gerasimov on Tuesday for alleged crimes committed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
In a press release, the court said judges had found there were "reasonable grounds to believe that the two suspects bear responsibility for missile strikes carried out by the Russian armed forces against the Ukrainian electric infrastructure from at least 10 October 2022 until at least 9 March 2023."
The Russian officials were suspected of having committed war crimes and crimes against humanity for directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects in Ukraine.
Though both states not party to ICC, Zelensky welcomes decision
Russia, which, like Ukraine, is not a member of the ICC, has repeatedly said Ukraine's energy infrastructure is a legitimate military target and denies targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the International Criminal Court's decision to issue arrest warrants against Russia's former defense minister and chief of general staff for strikes on Ukrainian civilians and civilian objects.
"Every criminal involved in the planning and execution of these strikes must know that justice will be served. And we do hope to see them behind bars," Zelensky said on Tuesday.
"We look forward to more arrest warrants in order to deprive Russia of its sense of impunity," he added.