Consider The Wind Then ICC Arrest Order, Russia's Security Council: Part Of The Western Hybrid War

President Putin was flanked by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (left) and Chief of the Russian Military General Staff General Valery Gerasimov. (Wikimedia Commons/Presidential Press and Information Office)

JAKARTA - Russia considers the wind and warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against two high-ranking officials as the last wind, assessing it as part of the Western hybrid war.

Russia's Security Council rejected an arrest warrant issued by the ICC against the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Sergei Shoigu, saying it had no legal impact.

"The decision of the Pre-Persidant Room of the International Criminal Court on Secretary of the Russian Security Council Sergei Shoigu has been null and void," the agency said, quoted by TASS on June 26.

"This is a passing wind, because the ICC has no jurisdiction in Russia, and the decision was taken as part of a Western hybrid war against our country," the agency said.

The ICC issued a warrant for the detention of Shoigu, who is also a former defense minister, as well as the Chief of General Staff of the Russian military General Valery Gerasimov on Tuesday.

Both are suspected of committing war crimes by directing attacks on civilian objects and causing excessive incidental losses to civilians, as well as crimes against humanity over "unhumane acts" in Ukraine, the ICC said in a statement.

The ICC said the alleged crime was linked to "a large number of attacks on a number of power plants and substations" carried out by Russia across Ukraine between October 2022 and March 2023.

It is known that the two warrants increased the total number of high-ranking Russian officials wanted for war crimes to four. Previously, the ICC issued an arrest warrant against President Vladimir Putin and Russian official Maria Lvova-Belova on the alleged scheme of deporting Ukrainian children to Russia.

The ICC was founded based on the 1998 Rome Statute. Currently, there are 123 countries participating in the agreement. The court is based in The Hague, but has branches in countries where it conducts investigations.

Russia signed the Rome Statute, which it co-developed, on September 13, 2000, but did not ratify it. On November 16, 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an executive order stating that Russia would not side with the ICC.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, "ICC has failed to meet expectations and has not yet become a truly independent international justice agency."