The Crimean human rights group said that it had made a submission to the International Criminal Court against Russian TV presenters, claiming evidence of their complicity in international crimes, in particular in the crimes of destroying civilian infrastructure on the territory of Ukraine.
According to human rights activists who monitor what is said in Russian state media, they have counted some 600 calls to bash Ukrainian cities and leave the population without light over the course of a year.
The researchers documented such calls from 173 people. Regarding the statements of the three most active-hosts Vladimir Solovyov, Sergey Mikheev and General Andrei Gurulev, who is active on Russian TV airwaves-the human rights activists made a submission to the International Criminal Court.
“We have submitted evidence that they called for the bombing of civilian infrastructure, the destruction of Ukrainian energy, a few days before these bombings took place. And several days after these bombings, they systematically justified these crimes on the airwaves of state TV channels, which have a large audience. According to our vision and the evidence that we submitted, they turn out to be accomplices of war crimes,” said Irina Sedova, an investigative journalist and researcher of the Crimean Human Rights Group.
The International Criminal Court declared Russian leader Vladimir Putin wanted in March 2023, accusing him of war crimes in Ukraine. Moscow denies the charges and says it does not recognise the court’s jurisdiction.
The Russian military regularly attacks Ukrainian regions with a variety of weapons – strike UAVs, missiles, KABs, MLRSs.
The Russian leadership denies that the Russian army, during a full-scale war, is carrying out targeted attacks on the civilian infrastructure of Ukrainian towns and villages, killing civilians and destroying hospitals, schools, kindergartens, energy and water supply facilities.
The Ukrainian authorities and international organisations qualify these strikes as war crimes by the Russian Federation and stress that they are purposeful.