The United Nations’ top court has rejected large parts of a case filed by Ukraine alleging that Russia bankrolled separatist rebels in the country’s east a decade ago.
The International Court of Justice ruled that Moscow violated articles of two treaties — one on terrorism financing and another on eradicating racial discrimination — but it rejected far more of Kyiv’s claims under the treaties.
It rejected Ukraine’s request for Moscow to pay reparations for attacks in eastern Ukraine blamed on pro-Russia Ukrainian rebels, including the July 17, 2014, downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 that killed all 298 passengers and crew.
In another rebuke for Moscow, the world court also ruled that Russia had violated one of the court’s orders by launching its full-scale invasion in Ukraine nearly two years ago.
The legally binding final ruling was the first of two expected decisions from the International Court of Justice linked to the decade-long conflict between Russia and Ukraine that exploded into all-out war almost two years ago.
READ HERE: full text of the #ICJ Judgment in the case of the Application of the Int'l Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and of the Int'l Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (#Ukraine v. #Russia) https://t.co/11FV7viGhD pic.twitter.com/3LkfAgjGti
— CIJ_ICJ (@CIJ_ICJ) January 31, 2024
Russia-backed rebels shot down the plane in 2014, killing all 298 passengers and crew. Russia denies involvement.
A Dutch domestic court convicted two Russians and a pro-Moscow Ukrainian in November 2022 for their roles in the attack and sentenced them in their absence to life imprisonment. The Netherlands and Ukraine also have sued Russia at the European Court of Human Rights over MH17.
At hearings last year, a lawyer for Ukraine, David Zionts, said the pro-Russia forces in eastern Ukraine “attacked civilians as part of a campaign of intimidation and terror. Russian money and weapons fuelled this campaign”.
The court, however, ruled that sending arms and other equipment did not constitute terrorism funding according to the treaty.
Another lawyer for Ukraine, Harold Koh, said that in the Crimean Peninsula, Russia “sought to replace the multi-ethnic community that had characterised Crimea before Russia’s intervention with discriminatory Russian nationalism”.
Lawyers for Russia urged the world court to throw out the case, arguing that the actions of pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine did not amount to terrorism.
The court is scheduled to rule on Friday on Russia’s objections to its jurisdiction in another case filed by Ukraine shortly after Russian troops invaded on February 24, 2022.
It alleges that Moscow launched its attack based on trumped-up genocide allegations. The court already has issued an interim order for Russia to halt the invasion, which Moscow has flouted.
The International Court of Justice in recent weeks also heard a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Judges issued provisional measures last week calling on Israel to do all it can to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in the conflict.