Two international courts turn their attention to Russia
Rulings and warrants issued on 25 June 2024 put Russia's military leadership and its record in Crimea under international legal scrutiny.
What did international justice say about Russia's war in the days around 26 June 2024? Two decisions had been announced on 25 June, and both shaped the legal picture that followed.
The International Criminal Court, in its investigation in Ukraine, issued arrest warrants for Valery Gerasimov, Russia's Chief of the General Staff, and for Sergei Shoigu, the former defence minister. The warrants named figures from the top of Russia's military and defence establishment.
On the same day, the European Court of Human Rights unanimously found Russia guilty of systematic violations of human rights in the Crimean peninsula. The unanimity of the finding stood out.
Why it mattered for Ukraine
The two decisions came from different bodies and addressed different questions: one concerned individual criminal accountability, the other a state's conduct in Crimea. Together they showed international institutions acting on both fronts of the Russo-Ukrainian War's legal dimension. For Kyiv, which has sought to keep the focus on accountability, the decisions offered formal confirmation from two separate courts.
