Court in The Hague begins hearing on Ukraine's genocide claim against Russia

The court in The Hague has begun considering the claim for the genocide of Ukrainians/Collage 24 Channel

On September 18, the International Criminal Court in The Hague begins a hearing on the claim of Ukraine against Russia. It concerns the issue of genocide of Ukrainians carried out by the aggressor country with the beginning of the invasion of our state.

In particular, Ukraine filed this claim with the International Court of Justice in The Hague on February 26, 2022. The hearings take place at the Peace Palace in The Hague, where the court's headquarters are located.

A hearing on the genocide of Ukrainians is taking place in The Hague

The hearing of Ukraine's claim against Russia on the genocide of our citizens will be held in two rounds. In particular, Russia will speak on September 18 and 25, and Ukraine on September 19 and 27.

The Ukrainian delegation is headed by Ambassador at Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Anton Korinevich, and the Russian delegation is headed by Gennady Kuzmin, Ambassador at Large Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia.

In its lawsuit, Kyiv demands that Moscow be held accountable for distorting the concept of “genocide” to justify the attack on Ukraine. At the same time, Russia stated that it was trying to prevent “genocide in Ukraine.”

It should be noted that the Ukrainian side rejected this assertion by the aggressor country, stating that the 1948 UN Genocide Convention does not allow invasion with the purpose of to prevent it.

Russia also claims that the International Court of Justice allegedly does not have jurisdiction over this case, since “the convention does not regulate the use of force between states.”

The United States of America also joined Ukraine's claim. However, since the United States had a reservation in one of the articles of the convention, the court did not recognize their declaration of intervention, and therefore did not include the country in the hearings.

Previously, the UN did not see the genocide of Ukrainians Russia

• The head of the UN international commission of inquiry into violations in Ukraine, Eric Mjose, noted on September 4 that the UN cannot recognize as genocide what is happening in Ukraine after the start of the Russian invasion. He emphasized that the commission allegedly did not have enough evidence.
• Adviser to the head of the Presidential Office Mikhail Podolyak responded to this statement. He condemned the statement of the head of the commission, and also emphasized that, obviously, for the UN, “Russia fires missiles and fights kindly.”
• Subsequently, the Ukrainian ombudsman Dmitry Lubinets responded to the assessment of the UN commission. He gave examples of how Russia carries out genocide of citizens and recalled exactly which points fall under the definition of this concept.