Russia is Absent from Highest UN Court on Ukraine

Russia does not show up for the case brought by Ukraine at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. The reason has not been disclosed.

The International Court of Justice is the supreme judicial body of the United Nations. It is located in the Peace Palace in The Hague.

The case concerns the run-up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia then accused Ukraine of genocide against Russian-speaking and pro-Russian residents of the renegade regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Moscow first decided to recognize the independence of those two regions and then invaded Ukraine. Therefore, according to Russia, the raid (“special military operation”) was justified to protect the inhabitants.

Ukraine says there was no genocide at all and wants UN judges to determine that Russia therefore “had no legal basis whatsoever to take action in and against Ukraine to prevent and punish genocide”.