The issuance by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of arrest warrants for two high-ranking Russian military officers for crimes against humanity in connection with the shelling of the energy structure of Ukraine is an important stage in the development of international justice in relation to all crimes committed by the Russian Federation against Ukrainians, Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin emphasizes.

“The ‘second package’ of arrest warrants against commander of the long–range aviation of the Russian Air Force [Commander of the long-range aviation of the Aerospace Forces Sergei Kobylash] and Admiral Commander of the Black Sea Fleet [Viktor Sokolov] was issued by the ICC precisely for the destruction of critical civilian infrastructure and, for the first time, for crimes against humanity," Prosecutor General said in an exclusive interview with the Interfax-Ukraine agency.

Kostin explained that the category of crimes against humanity has a scale, orientation and assumes a certain command vertical up to the highest level.

"Of course, these warrants are an important stage in the development of international justice in relation to all crimes committed against Ukrainians. That is, crimes against humanity are the next stage, the highest level of international crimes provided for by the Rome Statute committed against Ukrainians," the Prosecutor General said.

According to Kostin, Ukrainian legislation does not contain the wording "crime against humanity," so in this case the ICC is a complementary mechanism.

"But these two defendants, to whom the ICC has issued arrest warrants, are also suspected in our case, because they are involved in dozens of attacks that led to the destruction or the damage of civilian infrastructure and the death of Ukrainians," the Prosecutor General said.

Kostin clarified that the ICC Prosecutor's Office is currently focusing on a certain part of the crimes that relate to the shelling of civilian infrastructure. "Therefore, we will certainly continue our own investigation. Among the suspects, we consider not only the supreme military command of Russia, but also the entire command link," the Prosecutor General stressed.

He added that the crime of genocide is the highest level of international crime, and Ukrainian prosecutors and law enforcement agencies are collecting all evidence of the Russian Federation committing a crime of genocide against Ukrainians.