Olena Zerkal, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine and the Agent of Ukraine in Ukraine v. Russia case in the International Court of Justice, underscores that the situation around MH17 is also a part of the lawsuit filed by Ukraine against Russia.

“As for Boeing [MH17], this is a very important judgment because it actually means that Russia will be held accountable and has to justify to the international court, explaining why it was supplying weapons to Ukraine and what was happening. This means that the court and the international community will be able to see clearly what was happening and have access to all the case files. Moreover, this may have an impact on further consideration of the creation of similar tribunal within the UN Security Council,” Zerkal said, an Ukrinform correspondent in The Hague reported.

As reported, on November 8, the International Court of Justice recognized its jurisdiction in the case over Russia's violation of International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The court emphasized that Ukraine had complied with all pre-trial procedures. The judgment means that the International Court of Justice may now proceed to the merits.

On January 16, 2017, Ukraine filed a lawsuit against Russia over the violation of International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination at the International Court of Justice.

The charges filed against Russia include: provision of weapons and other types of assistance to illegal armed formations; downing of Malaysia Airlines flight 17 (MH17); shelling of residential districts of Mariupol and Kramatorsk, Donetsk region; destruction of a civilian passenger bus near Volnovakha, Donetsk region; explosion during a peaceful assembly in Kharkiv; discrimination against Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar communities; ban on the activities of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people; waves of disappearances, murders, unauthorized searches, detentions; restrictions on teaching Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar languages.

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