Lagatar24 Desk
The Hague, March 7: Russia has declined to attend a hearing at the United Nations’ top court on Monday, where Ukraine is seeking an emergency cease-fire order.
“The court regrets the non-appearance of the Russian Federation in these oral proceedings,” said International Court of Justice President Joan Donoghue.
The Russian ambassador to the Netherlands, Alexander Shulgin, wrote to the court and “stated that his country did not plan to participate,” she claimed.
Anton Korynevich Ukraine’s representative at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, criticized Russia for failing to show up at the ICJ’s Peace Palace headquarters.
“The fact that Russia’s seats are empty speaks loudly. They are not here in this court of law, they are on a battlefield, waging aggressive war against my country,” he said.
“Not the first time that Ukraine experienced first-hand Russia’s disrespect for int’l law. Now the world understands its disrespect & the hate of its cruelty…Putin lies & citizens of Ukraine die,” he added.
Notably, International Court of Justice today holds a public hearings in the case concerning allegations of genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Ukraine v. Russia).
On February 27, Kyiv filed an urgent lawsuit with the International Court of Justice, stating that Russia had illegally justified its conflict in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Lugansk regions by falsely alleging genocide.
Ukraine has urged the court to issue temporary injunctions requiring Russia to immediately cease military actions pending the outcome of a full trial, which could take years. After which the international Court has decided to launch an investigation into alleged war crimes committed amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
