Ruling issued in Ukraine's case against Russia

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has rejected most of Ukraine's claims in the case filed against Russia for allegedly financing separatists in eastern Ukraine and violating international conventions by disrupting the multi-ethnic social structure in Crimea, while ruling that Russia did violate certain articles of the conventions.

The UN's judicial organ, the ICJ, announced its final decision in the case brought by Ukraine on the grounds that Russia violated several articles of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) and the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism (ICSFT).

At the session where the decision was announced, the Ukrainian side was represented by Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Director General for International Law Oksana Zolotaryova, while the Russian side was represented by Ambassador Gennady Kuzmin and lawyer Kirill Udovichenko.

FINANCER OF TERRORISM

Reading the decision, the ICJ's American President Joan Donoghue stated that the current situation in Ukraine is very different from 2014, when the events subject to the case began.

The decision noted that the provision of weapons to separatists in eastern Ukraine does not fall under the scope of the Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, stating that the financing of terrorism only covers money and its equivalents.

The ruling stated that Russia violated the Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism by failing to properly investigate Ukraine's allegations regarding the financing of separatists in eastern Ukraine, while noting that Ukraine's claims that Russia violated many articles of the ICSFT were not sufficiently proven.

The Court rejected all of Ukraine's other claims that Russia violated other articles of the ICSFT.

RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

The ruling stated that Russia's restriction of education in the Ukrainian language in Crimea constitutes a violation of Articles 2 and 5 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, while noting that all of Ukraine's other claims under the CERD were rejected.

The decision also noted that Russia violated the provisional measures ordered on April 19, 2017, which mandated that Russia lift restrictions on the Crimean Tatar Mejlis and refrain from aggravating the situation while the legal proceedings were ongoing.

The case is notable as the first dispute brought before the Court on the grounds of violating the Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.

CASES FILED BY UKRAINE

In the case filed with the ICJ on January 16, 2017, Ukraine alleged that since 2014, Russia had violated its obligations under the ICSFT by initiating an armed uprising against the authority of the Ukrainian State in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine also claimed that the Russian Federation had violated its obligations under the CERD since 2014 by creating an "environment of violence and intimidation against non-Russian ethnic groups" in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

Ukraine had requested that Russia pay compensation for attacks and crimes in the east of the country, including the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

According to Ukraine's claim, Russian-backed rebels shot down the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on July 17, 2014, causing the deaths of all 298 passengers and crew.

While Russia denies involvement in the incident, a local court in the Netherlands convicted two Russians and a pro-Moscow Ukrainian for their roles in the attack in November 2022, sentencing them to life imprisonment in absentia.

The case filed by the Netherlands and Ukraine against Russia at the European Court of Human Rights regarding MH17 is also ongoing.

In addition to the case for which the final decision was given today, there is a second case filed by Ukraine against Russia at the ICJ regarding the violation of the Genocide Convention.

The decision regarding the "jurisdiction and admissibility" requirements in the second case concerning the violation of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide will be announced on Friday.