lmao, I had to see what the context is and it's hilarious:
"Pre-Trial Chamber II considered 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 October 10, 2022 until at least March 9, 2023," the court said. "During this time frame, a large number of strikes against numerous electric power plants and substations were carried out by the Russian armed forces in multiple locations in Ukraine."
They're charging them for targeting electrical infrastructure. Which is target number one for NATO and the IDF, coincidentally, and Ukraine too.
Targeting electrical infrastructure in Ukraine:
This is a terrible war crime
Targeting electrical infrastructure in Gaza/Syria/Iraq/Russia/etc
This is justified
That’s not even something you could realistically charge someone for anyways. It’s completely legal (we’re not talking moral here obviously) to attack infrastructure if it’s being used in a military capacity. And the list of what constitutes “military capacity” is basically a mile long.
Edit: actually I could see Russia using this opportunity to start the conversation of “if Russia doing x is a war crime, then the west is guilty of A-Z”
I would imagine if this ever actually got into a court there would be a lot of evidence submitted about Ukraine's sustained campaign to try to destroy the ZNPP nuclear plant with artillery and rocketfire
That’s what I was just thinking too. I don’t know if it would be worth it, but this seems like a good opportunity to start showing clear evidence of western/ Ukrainian war crimes.
What happens if you use cluster munitions against families relaxing at the beach?
....It's always projection with these people.
Targetting electrical infrastructure is technically a warcrime, and the persistent targeting of the grid in Kharkiv this year with intent to slowly depopulate the city is probably the first real war crime the Russians have been responsible for in the war so far.
ICC have solid jurisdiction because Russians haven't been white since 2022.
ICC have solid jurisdiction because Russians haven't been white since 2022.
If Russia can prove the infrastructure was being used in a military capacity it’s not a war crime.
Yep, all of the targeting during the period the ICC cites was mostly to disable the electrically powered rail grid as far as I know.
Kharkiv the past few months would be harder to argue there.
The rules of what constitutes a military capacity is so large you can basically do whatever you want. If a field commander is using the lights to read a map it’s completely justified to take down the electrical system. Obviously on a moral level it’s fucked to destroy infrastructure like that, but there basically is no legal case here.
