Ukraine has filed a case at the UN’s top court accusing Russia of sponsoring “terrorism” and demanding Moscow pay damages for the shelling of civilians and the downing of flight MH17, officials said on Tuesday.
“As part of its unlawful aggression in Ukraine, the Russian Federation has displayed contempt for the basic human rights of the people of Ukraine,” said foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin.
“We have tried to resolve the disputes through negotiation as required by conventions for more than two years, but the Russian Federation has been unwilling to cease its violations of international law.
“Therefore, we have filed our case to hold the Russian Federation accountable for these violations and to vindicate the fundamental rights of the Ukrainian people under these treaties, to which the Russian Federation is a signatory.”
The petition has sought “full reparation” for the 2014 downing of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine and “for the shelling of civilians” by the Pro-Russia rebels, which the Ukraine government claims is sponsored by the Russia government.
The International Court of Justice, the UN’s highest court, was founded in 1945 to rule on border and territorial disputes between nations. Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, accuses its neighbor Russia of triggering unrest by separatist pro-Russian rebels in retaliation for the ousting of Kiev’s Moscow-backed president in February 2014. Fierce fighting flared in eastern Ukraine and Russia annexed Ukraine’s southern peninsula of Crimea in March 2014.
