Russian troops ‘repel’ Ukrainian attacks in Donetsk, Zaporizhia
Lawyers for Ukraine at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) have rejected Russia’s account of the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) as a conspiracy theory, in a case laying the blame on Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014.
Kyiv said that Moscow violated a United Nations anti-terrorism treaty by equipping and funding pro-Russian forces, including militias who shot down MH17, killing all 298 passengers and crew nine years ago.
Last November, a court in the Netherlands convicted two Russians and a Ukrainian separatist in absentia for their role in the downing of the airliner and sentenced them to life in prison. It found that Russia had “overall control” over the separatist forces. Russia at the time rejected the decision by the Dutch court.
Last week, in hearings before the ICC, also known as the World Court, Russia said Ukraine’s MH17 case was based on “nonsense” and offered a host of alternative explanations for what happened.
On Monday, Ukraine’s lawyers hit back. One of them, Marney Cheek, told the court it had been “subjected to a rambling conspiracy theory” about the shooting down of MH17 which would be “better relegated to the darkest corners of the internet”.
Kyiv has accused Russia of being a “terrorist state” and said it tried to erase the culture of ethnic Tatars and Ukrainians in Crimea.