Russian president Vladimir Putin has awarded a medal for courage to the overall commander of Russia’s war in Ukraine, who is the subject of an international arrest warrant over alleged crimes against humanity in connection with the invasion of Ukraine. Army general Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff of Russia’s armed forces and one of the most powerful men in the Russian military, is credited as the chief architect of Russia’s modern warfare strategy. The US sanctioned him the day after Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, saying he was among those directly responsible, and in June last year the international criminal court (ICC) at The Hague issued an arrest warrant for him – as well as former defence minister Sergei Shoigu – for alleged war crimes in Ukraine. The two are accused of the war crimes of directing attacks at civilian objects and of causing excessive incidental harm to civilians or damage to civilian objects, and are also accused of crimes against humanity. The ICC wrote 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 10 October 2022 until at least 9 March 2023”. Russia, which is not a party to the ICC, has said electrical infrastructure in Ukraine represents a legitimate military target and has denied targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure. Gerasimov turned 70 on Monday. The Order of Courage, a prestigious state decoration, was given to him “for courage, bravery and dedication displayed in the fulfilment of military duty”, according to a decree published on Russia’s official legal acts website late on Monday.
The EU’s most senior sanctions envoy is holding talks in Washington with US officials after Donald Trump said he was ready to take further action against Russia over the war in Ukraine. David O’Sullivan, the EU sanctions envoy, was meeting US counterparts on Monday, as Europe and the US look for tougher measures against Moscow’s war machine after Russia launched its largest-ever air attack on Ukraine over the weekend, reports Jennifer Rankin. Ahead of those meetings, the head of the European Council, António Costa, hailed transatlantic cooperation over sanctions against Russia and said it was clear the US remained engaged in supporting Ukraine.
Germany and France are pushing to target Russian oil giant Lukoil as part of a new round of EU sanctions over the war in Ukraine, diplomats say. In a joint proposal circulated last week, Germany and France suggested blacklisting privately-owned oil major Lukoil and its trading subsidiary Litasco, diplomats said on Monday, speaking anonymously. The two countries were also pressing to target refineries in third countries involved in exporting Russian oil to the EU and trading firms dealing with Russian oil, they said.
Russia used an Iskander ballistic missile in an attack that damaged a Ukrainian government building in Kyiv at the weekend, a Ukrainian official said. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said he discussed Sunday’s attack – the first of its kind in the war – with US secretary of state Marco Rubio on Monday. While visiting the building, the European Union’s ambassador to Ukraine, Katarina Mathernova, noted the “gaping hole” left by the impact and missile remnants and said: “It’s only because the missile was unable to fully detonate that the entire building wasn’t turned into ruins.” The Iskander has been widely used by Russia against other targets in Ukraine.
The Russia-installed head of occupied parts of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region claimed late on Monday that Ukrainian forces had launched heavy drone and missile attacks on two cities in the area, killing two people and injuring 16. Denis Pushilin said on Telegram that Ukrainian forces had struck targets in the region’s main city, also called Donetsk, and in Makiivka, an industrial town further north. There was no comment from Ukrainian officials on the attacks. Russian news agencies quoted security officials in the occupied areas as saying at least 20 drones had been deployed in the two assaults and that air defence units were in action.
Estonia’s foreign ministry said it had summoned the Russian embassy’s charge d’affaires to lodge a protest after a Russian helicopter violated its airspace. The Russian MI-8 aircraft entered the airspace of the country – a Nato member and strong ally of Ukraine – on Sunday near the island of Vaindloo in the Gulf of Finland. Estonian foreign minister Margus Tsahkna said on X it was “the third such incident this year, a serious breach of international law”.
