Ukraine Files Lawsuit Against Russia in ICJ; Putin Puts Russia’s Nuclear Deterrent on Alert

Official Kyiv has filed a lawsuit against the Russian Federation in the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky wrote  on Twitter.

“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,” the Head of State said.

At the same time, on Sunday, 27 February, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the country’s deterrent forces to be put in a special regime of combat duty. He justified this decision by alleged aggressive statements by NATO officials.

“Western countries aren’t only taking unfriendly actions against our country in the economic sphere – I mean illegitimate sanctions – but top officials from leading NATO members made aggressive statements regarding our country,” he said.

Commenting on the statement, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield noted that the order of the president of the aggressor state is an unacceptable escalation, so it is necessary to stem his actions in the strongest possible way.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian army, territorial defence forces, other law enforcement units, and volunteer formations continue to rebuff the aggressor country’s army. Particularly fierce fighting is taking place near Sumy, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Mariupol, and Kyiv.

Bohdan Marusyak