Russia's security council said Tuesday that the International Criminal Court's issue of an arrest warrant for former defence minister Sergei Shoigu was "insignificant", Russian news agencies reported.
"The decision by the pre-trial chamber of the International Criminal Court over the secretary of the security council, Sergei Shoigu, is insignificant," the council's press service said, the TASS news agency reported.
The court said Tuesday that it had issued warrants for Shoigu and Russia's army chief Valery Gerasimov over strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure that constituted alleged war crimes.
"It's all hot air since the ICC's jurisdiction does not cover Russia" and the decision was taken "as part of the west's hybrid war against our country", the press service said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed Shoigu as defence minister last month, replacing him with Andrei Belousov, an economist. He then appointed Shoigu as secretary of the security council.
Russia has not yet made an official comment on the ICC's warrant for Gerasimov, chief of the general staff.