The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants today, Tuesday, against two Russian officials for committing war crimes in Ukraine. Here is some basic information about the officials Sergey Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov:
- Shoigu (69 years old) has served as Minister of Defense since 2012 until he was suddenly dismissed by President Vladimir Putin in May and appointed as Secretary of the Russian Security Council.
- Gerasimov (68 years old) has held the position of Chief of the General Staff since 2012 and is the commander of Russian military operations in Ukraine.
Both have faced severe criticism from prominent military bloggers in Russia due to the army's failures in the first year of the war, during which it underwent a series of setbacks and retreats.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Russian private military group Wagner, publicly insulted them in videos, accusing them of sabotaging the war effort and depriving Wagner fighters of ammunition before launching a rebellion in June 2023, which was soon contained but had the unintended effect of strengthening the positions of Shoigu and Gerasimov, as Putin did not accept their dismissal in response to the rebellion's demands. Prigozhin died two months later in a plane crash.
Shoigu had a personal closeness to Putin, often spending holidays with him in the forests and mountains of Siberia, Shoigu's homeland, and they would take photos during their hikes and hunting trips together. However, his position weakened significantly following the arrest of one of his deputies in April amid a major corruption scandal, which expanded to include more arrests within the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff.
Gerasimov remains in his position but is likely in a weak position as his deputy in the General Staff is one of those detained and under investigation. However, on the battlefield, Russia's position has improved in recent months with a series of gradual gains. The Chief of the General Staff is the highest position in the armed forces after the Commander-in-Chief, who is the President, and the Minister of Defense.
