At Hague, Ukraine accuses Russia of planning genocide

Ukraine has launched a case against Russia at the United Nations’ highest court, accusing Moscow of planning genocide and asking for the court to intervene to halt the invasion and order Russia to pay reparations.

The case also asks the International Court of Justice, based in The Hague, to indicate “provisional measures” ordering Moscow to “immediately suspend the military operations” that were launched on February 24.

The case says Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine based on false claims of acts of genocide in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions of eastern Ukraine, and now is planning genocidal acts in Ukraine.

Ukraine “emphatically denies that genocide happened in the eastern regions,” and says it filed the case “to establish that Russia has no lawful basis to take action in and against Ukraine for the purpose of preventing and punishing any purported genocide,” the court said in a statement.

The court will schedule a hearing soon to hear the provisional measures request.

The court hears disputes between nations over matters of law, unlike the International Criminal Court, also based in The Hague, which holds individuals criminally responsible for offenses including war crimes and crimes against humanity.