International Criminal Court to deliver its judgment on allegations of genocide against Russia

The International Court of Justice is sheduled today to announce its judgemet over the “Allegations of Genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide – Ukraine v. Russian Federation.” 

Only the members of the court and parties related to the case will be present during the livestreamed hearing due to the Covid pandemic. 

The court held its first hearing in the case last week. However, Russians refused to participate. 

In its application to the ICJ filed earlier this month, Ukraine said that Russia “falsely claimed that acts of genocide have occurred” in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic, Ukraine’s two de facto regions. 

Ukraine noted that Russia “declared and implemented a ‘special military operation’ against Ukraine with the express purpose of preventing and punishing purported acts of genocide that have no basis in fact.”

Kyiv also said that Russia is “now engaged in a military invasion of Ukraine involving grave and widespread violations of the human rights of the Ukrainian people.”