The International Court of Justice has concluded public hearings in the case of Ukraine v. Russia regarding the violation of two conventions by the occupying country – the one on combating the financing of terrorism and the other on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination. This is the first case of Ukraine against Russia in international judicial institutions that was heard on the merits.

The Mission also joined the Ukrainian delegation – Head of the Legal Support Department Olga Kuryshko attended the hearings as an expert. The delegation was headed by the Ambassador at Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Agent of Ukraine in the Court Anton Korynevych.

Two rounds of presentations by the parties took place in The Hague: On June 6 and 12, Ukraine’s legal team spoke, and on June 8 and 14, Russia’s spoke. The hearings were devoted to the merits of the case, so the Court is expected to announce its decision after hearing the case.

On January 16, 2017, Ukraine filed a lawsuit against Russia in the International Court of Justice for violation of the Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and the Convention on the Prohibition of Racial Discrimination. The International Court of Justice recognized its jurisdiction in the case of violation of these two conventions on November 8, 2019.

The charges against Russia include: providing weapons and other types of assistance to illegal armed groups, the downing of flight MH-17, shelling of residential areas in Mariupol and Kramatorsk, the destruction of a civilian passenger bus near Volnovakha, and an explosion during a peaceful assembly in Kharkiv, discrimination against the Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar communities, the ban on the activities of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, a wave of enforced disappearances, murders, illegal searches and arrests in the occupied Crimea, as well as restrictions on the teaching of Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar languages in Crimean educational institutions.

We would like to express our gratitude to the members of Ukraine’s legal team at the International Court of Justice for the professional and high-quality representation of our country in the Court. Together, we will continue to do everything possible to ensure that the aggressor country is held accountable for all crimes against Ukraine!