More than 200 civilian casualties in Ukraine were reported as of Saturday--the third day of Russia's invasion--prompting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to file a lawsuit in the International Court of Justice.
Euronews reported that Ukraine has submitted an application against Russia in the International Court of Justice after reporting on the civilian casualties. Zelenskyy himself announced in Twitter their move to make Russia accountable for their violence against the Ukrainians.
"Ukraine has submitted its application against Russia to the ICJ. Russia must be held accountable for manipulating the notion of genocide to justify aggression. We request an urgent decision ordering Russia to cease military activity now and expect trials to start next week," Zelenskyy said.
Euronews correspondent Sasha Vakulina said a general curfew was placed on Kyiv, Urkraine's capital that was first attacked by Russia when it leashed its full invasion last Thursday. The curfew began Saturday and will run until Monday as heavy fighting continue in Kyiv and other cities of Ukraine.
Residents were prohibited from going out in the streets except when they have permits to attend to special needs. Most of the Ukrainians hide underground like basements and underground Metro Stations. Some, as per Al Jazeera, have taken refuge in churches.
According to Axios, at least 240 civilians have already died in the hands of Russian soldiers as of Sunday. Ukraine's Ministry of Interior announced that there are at least 352 civilian casualties that included 14 children and 1,684 people injured that included 116 children.
While the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Saturday that "real figures are considerably higher" since Russia continues to bombard cities and towns in Ukraine with missiles and gunfire.
The Christian Post said, on Saturday alone, there were six people who died when the city of Okhtyrka in Ukraine's Sumy Oblast was shelled by Russian forces. The casualties included a 7-year-old girl. Then there's a six-year-old boy and a woman who died in Kharkiv from Russian gunfire. In addition, a woman who lived in a nine-story residential building in Kharkiv also died from heavy artillery.
There were 80 people from the said building who survived and have been already sheltered in basements afterwards but the building suffered extensively from gunfire damage.
In response to Zelenskyy's application, the International Court of Justice, which is the United Nation's principal judicial organ based in Netherlands, have accepted the lawsuit and is in the process of instituting proceedings.
The International Court of Justice said Zelenskyy's dispute pertained to "the interpretation, application, and fulfillment of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide." This lawsuit denied Russian President Vladimir Putin's claims that genocide occurred in Ukraine's Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts. Russia accordingly recognized the "Donetsk People's Republic" and "Luhansk People's Republic" before it instituted the "'special military operation' against Ukraine."
Zelenskyy pointed out that Russia had no legal claims to punish Ukraine for the alleged genocide. The Ukrainian president also argued that the Russian Federation was planning genocide against Ukraine and intentionally killed its civilians, citing Article II of the Genocide Convention. He sought the court to implement provisional measures to prevent any further prejudice to be made against Ukraine and its people. The provisions requested also aim to avoid extending the dispute between Russia in so far as the Genocide Convention is concerned.
The ICJ said that, based on the application, Russia's claims are nothing but a lie since it has unsupported claims that genocide was committed in Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts. The court agreed that they need to "urgently protect Ukraine pending its resolution of" the said dispute.
"The Russian Federation's invasion of Ukraine based on a false claim of genocide is thus incompatible with the Genocide Convention and violates Ukraine's rights. The rights claimed by Ukraine in this case are at a minimum plausible, which is sufficient for provisional measures to be indicated," the ICJ said.
In line with its decision, the court will release provisional measures due to the self-evident current situation in Ukraine where there is ongoing tension that has already lead to "significant and irreparable loss of life and property."
