Kremlin does not recognize ICC’s arrest warrants for Russian commanders, Peskov says
Moscow does not recognize the International Criminal Court's (ICC) issuance of arrest warrants for Russian commanders, the country’s media reported on March 6, citing Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov.
"We are not a party to the [Rome] Statute, we do not recognize it,” he said.
“This is not the first decision. We also know that there are various closed trials being held in secret. We treat such decisions accordingly."
On March 5, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Russian Long-Range Aviation Commander Sergei Kobylash and Russian Black Sea Fleet Commander Viktor Sokolov. They are accused of crimes committed between Oct. 10, 2022, and Mar. 9, 2023, when Russia engaged in a large-scale air strike campaign against Ukraine’s civilian energy infrastructure.
"Every Russian commander who orders strikes on civilians and critical infrastructure must know that justice will prevail," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote the same day in his X post praising the decision.
"We are making every effort to ensure that no Russian brute responsible for the murders of Ukrainian children, women, and men goes unpunished. And no rank, no high office, can shield them from accountability.”
Washington supported the decision of the ICC, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said at a briefing on March 5.
“We have seen the news that the ICC issued arrest warrants for Sergei Kobylash and Viktor Sokolov for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity,” he said.
“The United States supports a range of international investigations into Russia’s atrocities in Ukraine, including the one conducted by the ICC.”
On March 17, 2023, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and Russian Children’s Ombudsperson Maria Lvova-Belova on March 17, 2023. They are accused of illegally abducting children from Ukraine to Russia since Feb. 24, 2022.
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