(Moscow) The Kremlin on Wednesday deemed “absurd” the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against the chief of staff of the Russian army Valery Gerasimov and Sergei Shoigu, Minister of Defense until last May , for crimes.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday issued arrest warrants against them for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine, accusations that Moscow rejects.
“We do not recognize the jurisdiction of this court,” Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “We consider [these mandates] absurd,” he added.
Russia is not one of the signatory states to the Rome Statute, founder of the ICC. Furthermore, the Court does not have its own police force to execute arrest warrants.
But its roughly 124 member countries are, in theory, required to arrest anyone against whom an arrest warrant is issued if they travel to their territory.
In the spring of 2023, the ICC issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his children’s rights commissioner for the alleged war crime of deporting children from Ukraine to Russia. An accusation firmly rejected by Moscow.
In May, the Russian president replaced his Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, 69, in office since 2012, with technocrat Andrei Belousov, after more than two years of conflict in Ukraine.
Armed Forces Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov remains in office, and the Kremlin has said that “no changes” are planned in this position.
