Russia finances terrorism, Ukraine says
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister on Monday accused Russia of financing terrorism by shipping arms, ammunition and funds to separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine and of discriminating against non- Russians in the annexed Crimean Peninsula.
The accusations came as a case between Kiev and Moscow opened at the U. N.’ s highest judicial body.
The International Court of Justice case, which also seeks reparations for the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, opens a new legal front in the drawn- out conflict between Russia and its neighbor Ukraine.
“This case will send a message about whether the international legal order can stand up to powerful countries that disregard law and disrespect human rights,” Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Olena Zerkal told the 16- judge panel.
Flight 17, heading to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam, was shot down July 17, 2014, by a Buk surface- to- air missile over conflict- torn eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board. International investigators have concluded that the Buk missile that shot down the plane was fired from Russia- backed, rebel- controlled territory in eastern Ukraine by a mobile launcher driven in from Russia and hastily returned there, a finding that Moscow rejects.
The main case, in which Ukraine is asking the court to rule that Russia is breaching treaties on terrorist financing and racial discrimination, may take months or years to resolve. But judges are expected to rule in the coming weeks on whether to grant the provisional measures sought by Ukraine at the hearing Monday.