Ukraine’s Justice Minister calls out as false Russia’s claim ICC judgments inapplicable to them

He said this on the air of the national telethon, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"Of course, Russia’s words or rather – reaction – is typical, standard. They said roughly the same thing when the arrest warrant for Putin was issued. Actually, it's the same thing now. It is true that they did not ratify the Rome Statute but it isn’t true that this judgment does not apply to their citizens, including their generals, or that it will not be implemented," Maliuska said.

According to the minister, "the thing is that in the case of the Rome Statute, the significance of ratification is important only in relation to the crime of aggression, in relation to war crimes, in relation to the crime of genocide, in relation to the crime against humanity".

"The ICC jurisdiction extends regardless of Russia’s ratification of the Rome Statute. The key thing is that Ukraine recognized the jurisdiction, the crimes were committed on the territory of Ukraine. Accordingly, the ICC has the right to hear such criminal cases without any problems, and is entitled to issue arrest warrants. And these two generals will be arrested as soon as they cross  into any of the countries that have ratified the Rome Statute and, in fact, recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court," explained the Minister of Justice.

At the same time, as he noted, "it is possible that they will be arrested in other countries as part of international legal assistance procedure because criminal proceedings regarding attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure are investigated not only by the ICC prosecutor but also in the national jurisdictions of other states."

"I mean, these guys have become virtually immobile as a minimum, and after the change of government in Russia, which is inevitable, it will happen someday, and they don't seem to look too old, it will be dangerous for them in Russia, too," Maliuska emphasized.

As reported, the International Criminal Court issued warrants for the arrest of the commander of the long-range aviation of the Russian aerospace force Sergei Kobylash and Black Sea fleet commander Viktor Sokolov.

Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin of Ukraine said that the ICC's move marked another milestone on the path to restoring justice.

A number of media reported that the Kremlin repeatedly stated Russia did not recognize decisions handed down by the ICC.