The International Court of Justice of the United Nations began the third day of hearings on Ukraineʼs lawsuit against Russia

The UN International Court of Justice in The Hague began the third day of hearings in Ukraineʼs lawsuit against Russia regarding the Convention on the Prevention of the Crime of Genocide.

"Babel" correspondent Oksana Kovalenko reported this from the scene.

Today, 32 countries that joined the lawsuit on the side of Ukraine will speak in court. This is an unprecedented number of countries in history: 34 UN members out of 193, that is, almost 20% participate in the process.

Countries appear according to the French alphabet. Germany (fr. Allemagne) was the first to speak. They said it was particularly important for Germany to be involved in the Genocide Convention case, given its history.

The dispute concerns the interpretation, application and enforcement of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Ukraine asks the court to hold Russia accountable for distorting the term "genocide".

Ukraine filed this lawsuit on February 26, 2022, two days after the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation. The Kremlin accused Kyiv of "genocide" of Donbas residents and used it as a basis for the invasion on February 24, 2022.