Army chief of staff Valery Gerasimov is accused of war crimes for directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects in Ukraine under an arrest warrant from the international criminal court. What we know on day 1,294
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Russian president Vladimir Putin has awarded a medal for courage to the overall commander of Russia’s war in Ukraine, who is the subject of an international arrest warrant over alleged crimes against humanity in connection with the invasion of Ukraine. Army general Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff of Russia’s armed forces and one of the most powerful men in the Russian military, is credited as the chief architect of Russia’s modern warfare strategy. The US sanctioned him the day after Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, saying he was among those directly responsible, and in June last year the international criminal court (ICC) at The Hague issued an arrest warrant for him – as well as former defence minister Sergei Shoigu – for alleged war crimes in Ukraine. The two are accused of the war crimes of directing attacks at civilian objects and of causing excessive incidental harm to civilians or damage to civilian objects, and are also accused of crimes against humanity. The ICC wrote that there “are 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”. Russia, which is not a party to the ICC, has said electrical infrastructure in Ukraine represents a legitimate military target and has denied targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure. Gerasimov turned 70 on Monday. The Order of Courage, a prestigious state decoration, was given to him “for courage, bravery and dedication displayed in the fulfilment of military duty”, according to a decree published on Russia’s official legal acts website late on Monday.
