Ukraine files genocide case against Russia at ICJ

UKRAINE: Ukraine on Sunday launched a case against Russia at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), based in The Hague accusing Moscow of planning genocide and asking for the court to intervene to halt the invasion and order Russia to pay reparations.

The case filed on Sunday also asks the ICJ to indicate “provisional measures” ordering Moscow to “immediately suspend the military operations” that were launched February 24.

The case says Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine based on false claims of acts of genocide in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions of eastern Ukraine and now is planning genocidal acts in Ukraine.

The Court hears disputes between nations over matters of law, unlike the International Criminal Court, also based in The Hague, that holds individuals criminally responsible for offences including war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Meanwhile, Russia’s war on Ukraine risks displacing “over seven million people”, the EU commissioner for crisis management said Sunday.

“Currently, the expected number of displaced Ukrainians is over seven million people,”Janez Lenarcic said, but cautioned he was giving only “rough estimates” from the UN because fighting prevented accurate counting.

Lenarcic said that, according to the UN, if the war continued, “there will be around 18 million Ukrainians that will be affected in humanitarian terms, be it in Ukraine proper, or in the neighbouring countries”.

Ukraine’s Health Ministry said on Sunday that 352 civilians, including 14 children, had been killed since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It also said that 1,684 people, including 116 children, had been wounded.

– INDIAN EXPRESS, THE HINDUSTAN TIMES,INDIA TODAY