‘Terrorist state’: Ukraine slams Russia at International Court of Justice hearing

Kyiv called Russia a “terrorist state,” on Tuesday (June 6), at the top United Nations court at the hearing of Moscow’s alleged backing of pro-Russian separatists accused of shooting down an aircraft in 2014 over Ukraine which killed nearly 300 people.

The hearing about the 2014 case also came amid the ongoing conflict between the two countries and hours after the attack on the Soviet-era Nova Kakhovka dam on the Dnipro River in the Russia-occupied part of southern Ukraine with both Moscow and Kyiv blamingeach other.

What was the hearing about?

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Notably, the hearing at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) was the first time where Russian and Ukrainian lawyers faced each other since the beginning of what Moscow has called its “special military operation” in Ukraine. The case was filed by Kyiv in 2017 at the World Court against theMoscow-backed rebels and accused Russia of violating the UN anti-terrorism treaty.

The legal teams from both countries compriseddozens of representatives but on Tuesday only Ukraine presented arguments before a panel of 16 judges at the ICJ.Russia will get the opportunity to respond on Thursday. Ukraine will then respond on June 12 and Russia will present again two days later.

According to Kyiv, Moscow violated the UN conventions for financing terrorism and racial discrimination as it allegedly equipped and funded pro-Russian forces who shot down the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 over Ukraine killing all 298 passengers and crew on board.

TheMalaysia Airlines Boeing 777 planewas reportedly shot down by a Russian-made missile in July. Moscowhas since denied these allegations. There was also violence thattook place in 2014 in Ukraine when at least 13,000 people were killed when pro-European Union protesters overthrew Kyiv’s Moscow-allied government. It was not soon after that Russia had forcibly annexed Crimea.

Ukrainian representatives call Russia ‘terrorist state’

In his opening remarks, Ukrainian Ambassador-at-Large Anton Korynevych spoke about the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam which Kyiv has blamed Moscow for. “Russia cannot defeat us on the battlefield, so it targets civilian infrastructure to try to freeze us into submission,” said the Ukrainian diplomat.

“Russia’s actions are the actions of a terrorist state, an aggressor. But such actions did not appear out of the blue. They are the tragic but logical outcome of the situation we brought to this court’s attention back in 2017,”he added.

The Ukrainian diplomat reiterating statements from officials in Kyiv, said, “Just today, Russia blew up a major dam…causing significant civilian evacuations, ecological damage and threatening the safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.”

Ukraine has also called on the Hague-based court to order Russia to stop discrimination against the Tatar ethnic group in Crimea. Korynevych also said that Russia’s “contempt for international law didn't start in 2022” but when it annexed Crimea in 2014, adding that Moscow then “engaged in a campaign of cultural erasure, taking aim at ethnic Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars.”

However, Russia is now “trying to wipe us from the map” with the ongoing invasion, said the Ukrainian lawyer. Moscowhas denied the claims of systematic human rights abuses in the Ukrainian territory that it controls.

The Ukrainian lawyers also spoke about the Dutch court verdict in November that convicted two Russians and a Ukrainian separatist to life in absentia over the shooting of MH17 and their role. The court also found Russia had “overall control” over the separatist forces.

Ukrainian lawyers said that the Russian officials were “guilty of terrorism financing” as they supplied the missile knowing it would be used to shoot down an aircraft. Ukrainian lawyer Marney Cheek also said how Moscow also supplied rebels with rocket systems that were used in a “reign of terror” on civilians in 2015.

“What did Russia do to prevent and suppress this financing of terrorism? Nothing,” the lawyer added.

Notably, Russia has previously tried to get the case filed by Ukrainethrown out saying that the International Criminal Court (ICC) does not have jurisdiction.

In 2022, after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv filed a separate case which accused Moscow of planning genocide. This led the ICJ to order a suspension of the invasion. The ICC also issued a warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in March, on war crimes over forced deportations of Ukrainian children.

(With inputs from agencies)

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