ICC Issues Arrest Warrants for 2 Top Russian Officials

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at international legal actions against two Russian military officials, mass protests against Kenya’s finance bill, and Israel’s new military conscription policy.

New Arrest Warrants

The International Criminal Court (ICC) announced arrest warrants for two senior Russian security officials on Monday. Gen. Valery Gerasimov, Moscow’s most senior military officer, and former Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu were accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity for allegedly directing strikes against civilian targets in Ukraine. Shoigu currently serves as a member of the Kremlin’s Security Council after being demoted last month for his lackluster war record despite being one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest and longest-serving ministers.

Gerasimov and Shoigu are both considered architects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The ICC warrants accuse them of leading a systematic campaign targeting Kyiv’s energy infrastructure during the winter of 2022. “The expected incidental civilian harm and damage would have been clearly excessive to the anticipated military advantage,” the ICC said of the attacks.

Russia has launched multiple waves of missile and drone strikes against Ukraine’s largest power plants since the war began, wiping out roughly half of the country’s total electricity generation. “There is concern among big industry, such as the country’s once-vaunted steel and iron industry, that the power outages could kneecap what appeared to be a miraculous wartime recovery of industrial output,” FP’s Keith Johnson reported earlier this month.

Moscow’s Security Council condemned the ICC warrants as “pathetic” examples of “the West’s hybrid war against our country.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky celebrated the decision, saying “no military rank or cabinet door can shield Russian criminals from accountability.”

Last year, the court issued arrest warrants for Putin and Russian children’s rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova for allegedly orchestrating the abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children during the war, which could constitute a war crime. Russia is not a member of the ICC, making the warrants largely symbolic, at least inside Russia. But the move has restricted Putin’s ability to travel to ICC member states, such as South Africa, since they would be required to arrest the Russian leader once he set foot on their soil. That will now also be the case for Gerasimov and Shoigu.

Meanwhile, Ukraine and Moldova officially launched membership talks with the European Union on Tuesday, demonstrating Western unity with Kyiv beyond the billions of dollars that the bloc has provided Ukraine for its war effort. Kyiv applied for EU membership four days after Russia’s full-scale invasion, with Moldova quickly following suit. Both nations were granted candidate status months later—in stark contrast to the fate of other nations not directly threatened by Russia that are seeking EU bids. Turkey’s accession talks, for instance, have lasted nearly two decades with little progress.

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What We’re Following

Violence in Nairobi. Thousands of people protested Kenya’s controversial new finance bill on Tuesday, going so far as to storm and set ablaze part of Nairobi’s parliament building. Police opened fire on the demonstrators as lawmakers fled the premises, and at least five people have reportedly been killed. Global web monitor NetBlocks detected a “major disruption” to Kenya’s internet services on Tuesday, and Kenyan Defense Secretary Aden Duale ordered the deployment of Kenyan army troops to quell the unrest.

The bill in question would implement significant tax hikes on numerous goods and services to try to raise $2.7 billion to reduce the state’s budget deficit. But many Kenyans have accused President William Ruto of reversing his promise to curb high costs of living. Ruto condemned the protests on Tuesday and is still expected to either approve the bill or send it back for amendments in the coming days.

As unrest at home builds, Kenyan police officers arrived in Haiti on Tuesday to tackle rampant gang violence in Port-au-Prince. Nairobi is leading the multinational, United Nations-backed force, which will include officers from seven other countries. Then-Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry first sought international aid more than a year and a half ago, but court challenges delayed the Kenya-led deployment. Since Henry’s initial appeal, more than 7,500 people have been killed in Haiti.

Draft exemptions. Israel’s Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Tuesday that ultra-Orthodox (or Haredi) Jews are no longer exempt from the draft, and it ordered the government to stop funding religious schools whose students refuse to comply. “At the height of a difficult war, the burden of inequality is more than ever acute,” the court said. Under Israeli law, most Israelis must serve in the military for at least 24 to 32 months depending on their gender. Palestinian citizens of Israel and Israelis with certain disabilities are among those still exempt.

Earlier this month, opposition leader Benny Gantz resigned from Israel’s war cabinet, dissolving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s unity government. Tuesday’s decision will likely further strain his hold on power, as Netanyahu’s Likud party relies on two ultra-Orthodox groups to govern. “Netanyahu cannot, as he has in the past, assume his party and far-right coalition partners will do as commanded,” journalist David Rosenberg wrote in Foreign Policy.

Assange pleads guilty. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange agreed to plead guilty on Monday on a charge of illegally obtaining and disclosing national security material. In exchange, he was released from a British prison and sent to the Pacific island of Saipan, a U.S. commonwealth, where he will address the court and likely be released to his home country of Australia. Assange is expected to be credited for the five years that he has already served in detention so that he faces no jail time.

The deal ends Assange’s long dispute with the United States, which has sought to have him extradited to the U.S. mainland for violation of the U.S. Espionage Act. In the 2010s, Assange and his organization published large amounts of classified material online, including hundreds of thousands of military documents related to the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as diplomatic cables. Some experts worry that the plea agreement could set a dangerous legal precedent, arguing that criminally charging Assange could threaten free speech.

Odds and Ends

For those who like a little entertainment while on the commode, Tasmania’s Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) has you covered. The catch: Only women have access. MONA hung several Pablo Picasso paintings in a toilet stall on Monday to protest a local court ruling in April that the museum had discriminated against men for denying a man access to the gallery’s Ladies Lounge, where the famous works were on display. “The artwork evokes in men the lived experience of women forbidden from entering certain spaces throughout history,” curator Kirsha Kaechele posted on Instagram. Kaechele also plans to appeal the decision at Tasmania’s Supreme Court. “But in the meantime, enjoy [ladies].”