Former Russian military intelligence officer Igor Salikov arrived in the Netherlands this week to testify as a witness [9] at the International Criminal Court (ICC) regarding Russian war crimes. Salikov took part in operations in Eastern Ukraine as an officer of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (commonly kown as the Main Intelligence Directorate, GRU) between 2014 and 2015. In 2017, he served as a senior instructor for the private military company Wagner [10] in Syria. In 2022, he was a commander in the private military company Redut during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Before his arrival, Salikov penned a confession addressed to ICC prosecutor Karim Khan and ICC president Peter Hofmanski. He expected to be called in by the ICC as a witness for some time, but due to increased risks to his family and possible retaliation, he chose to independently travel to the Hague and seek political asylum. However, Salikov did not to seek immunity from criminal prosecution by the ICC.
Salikov admitted [11] to witnessing crimes against civilians, including child abductions.
Since the conflict began, Ukrainian officials, the UN, and the ICC have reported violations [13] of the Geneva Conventions [14]. In March, the ICC issued an arrest warrant [15] against Vladimir Putin and Russian children's commisioner Maria Lvova-Belova concerning the forced deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
From Jurist [16], Dec. 20. Used with permission.
