Russia's new defense minister in the focus of ICC's attention - Prosecutor General's Office

Russia's new defense minister, Andrei Belousov, is in the focus of attention of the International Criminal Court, as under his leadership Russia continues to commit war crimes for which his predecessor, Sergei Shoigu, and Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov received arrest warrants.

Yuriy Bielousov, Head of the Department for Combating Crimes Committed during the Armed Conflict at the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office, said this in an interview with Ukrinform.

"The arrest warrants for Shoigu and Gerasimov refer to a specific period of time. The ICC used the period of attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure from October 22, 2022 to March 2023. At that time, Shoigu served as Russia's defense minister. Now there is another person there and the strikes continue," he said.

According to Bielousov, Ukraine hopes that the International Criminal Court will, in its further investigations, take up the most recent attacks for which the incumbent Russian defense minister is responsible.

"We don't know exactly when there will be a warrant for his arrest, but I'm sure that the new Russian defense minister is in the focus of attention of the ICC," he said.

According to Bielousov, in Ukraine, war crimes are investigated by the National Police and the Security Service of Ukraine. The evidence collected by them is used by the International Criminal Court, which closely cooperates with Ukraine's national law enforcement system.

"There is a national system that is fully operational, and they can largely rely on what we do. In this way, the ICC saves its resources and conducts the investigation much faster," Bielousov said.

On June 25, judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Secretary of the Russian Security Council and former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov.

Shoigu and Gerasimov are suspected of war crimes in the form of attacks on civilian objects, causing excessive accidental damage to the civilian population or damage to civilian objects, as well as crimes against humanity.

In mid-May, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin appointed Belousov as the new minister of defense in place of Shoigu.