Ukraine says Russia is illegally targeting the power grid. Here’s what the law says
By MIKE CORDER
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Russian missiles and drones have pounded Ukraine’s energy grid in recent weeks, plunging residents into freezing darkness during one of the country’s coldest winters on record.
Ukraine has accused Russia of illegally targeting electricity infrastructure during the war to deprive civilians of electricity, heat and running water.
“Taking advantage of the coldest days of winter to terrorize the population is more important for Russia than diplomacy,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday, on the eve of a new round of talks on ending the conflict and as temperatures in kyiv hovered around minus 20°C.
Russia says its attacks are an integral part of its military campaign against its neighbor. Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine is itself widely considered an illegal act of aggression.
So, are attacks on energy facilities allowed in war?
What international law says
Fighters can legally target a power grid if the attack “directly affects a valid military target” – but they cannot cause excessive civilian casualties, said David Crane, former chief prosecutor of the UN Special Court for Sierra Leone.
In the case of Russian attacks on Ukraine, “indiscriminate and widespread targeting is far from legal,” he said in an email response to questions from The Associated Press.
The International Committee of the Red Cross states that elements of energy systems providing essential services to civilians “are in principle civilian objects and, as such, are protected against direct attack and reprisals as well as against accidental damage.”
In fact, pre-trial judges at the International Criminal Court have issued arrest warrants in 2024 for high-ranking Russian military officers and the country’s former defense minister for their alleged involvement in missile strikes targeting power infrastructure.
In announcing the arrest warrants for former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Russian army chief Gen. Valery Gerasimov, the court said the judges found “reasonable grounds to believe that the alleged strikes were directed against civilian objects, and for facilities that could have been characterized as military objectives at the relevant time, the expected incidental civilian damage would have been clearly excessive in relation to the expected military advantage.”
Russia is not a member of the court, rejects its jurisdiction and refuses to extradite suspects to stand trial in the ICC courtrooms in The Hague, Netherlands.
What Russia says
The Russian military has repeatedly said it has targeted energy facilities and other infrastructure that support Ukraine’s military industries and armed forces. He denied targeting residential areas despite daily evidence to the contrary.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted on Wednesday that “our military personnel are striking targets they believe are associated with the kyiv regime’s military complex, the operation continues.”
What Ukraine says
kyiv accuses Russia of seeking to exhaust Ukrainians’ appetite for fighting by inflicting terrible hardship on civilians forced to live in dark, freezing homes.
Authorities say Russia attempted to cripple Ukraine’s electricity grid by targeting power plant substations, transformers, turbines and generators. Ukraine’s largest private power company, DTEK, said this week’s nighttime attack was the ninth major attack on the company’s thermal power plants since October.
Ukraine’s energy sector suffered more than $20 billion in direct war damage, according to a joint estimate by the World Bank, European Commission and United Nations.
