Ukraine denounces Russia as 'terrorist state' at World Court hearing

Ukraine on Tuesday called Russia a terrorist state at the top U.N. court as hearings began in a case over Moscow's backing of pro-Russian separatists blamed for shooting down Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 in 2014. It was the first time lawyers for Ukraine and Russia met at the International Court of Justice, also know as the World Court, since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Legal teams with dozens of representatives were sent by each side. A panel of 16 judges at the ICJ began hearing Ukraine's claim that Moscow violated a U.N. anti-terrorism treaty by equipping and funding pro-Russian forces who shot down the jetliner, killing all 298 passengers and crew. In the same claim, Ukraine has also asked the Hague-based court to order Russia to halt discrimination against the Tatar ethnic group in Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula occupied by Russia since 2014. In opening remarks, Ukrainian Ambassador-at-Large Anton Korynevych commented on the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric dam hours earlier in Russian-held territory in Ukraine's southern Kherson region. Kyiv says Russia blew up the dam; the Kremlin has blamed what it says was Ukrainian sabotage. "Russia cannot defeat us on the battlefield, so it targets civilian infrastructure to try to freeze us into submission," Korynevych told hearings, describing Russia's actions as "the actions of a terrorist state". "Just today Russia blew up a major dam ..., causing significant civilian evacuations, ecological damage and threatening the safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant."<br/>