Ukraine takes Russia to International Court of Justice

ISTANBUL – Ukraine has taken Russia to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the country’s president said Sunday.

“Ukraine has submitted its application against Russia to the ICJ. Russia must be held accountable for manipulating the notion of genocide to justify aggression,” Volodymyr Zelensky said on Twitter.

“We request an urgent decision ordering Russia to cease military activity now and expect trials to start next week,” he added.

The ICJ released a statement late Sunday saying Ukraine filed the application proceedings against Russia, requesting the court to indicate “provisional measures.”

It added that Ukraine’s application was related to the “interpretation, application and fulfillment of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.”

In the application, Ukraine accused Russia of “planning acts of genocide in Ukraine” and “intentionally killing and inflicting serious injury on members of the Ukrainian nationality.”

The court is yet to announce the date of the hearing.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine entered its fourth day after Moscow launched an attack on Kyiv last Thursday.

The invasion was met by an outcry from the international community with the European Union, UK and the US implementing a range of economic sanctions against the Kremlin.

Russia has been further isolated as its airlines have been banned from traveling in European airspace and a number of its banks have been kicked out of the SWIFT international banking system.