Russia and Ukraine face off in The Hague over genocide case

Russia and Ukraine face each other at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague this week over claims by Moscow that the purpose of its invasion of Ukraine was to prevent genocide.

Kyiv has brought a case against Russia, arguing that it is "abusing" the 1948 Genocide Convention, said Reuters, by suggesting military action was justified to stop an alleged genocide in eastern Ukraine.

However, Moscow has responded by "demanding the case be thrown out" of the United Nations' highest court. Its lawyers described the Ukrainian argument as I willan "abuse of process", Euronews added.

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Ukraine launched proceedings within days of Russia's invasion being launched. It asked the court to halt the invasion and also alleged that Moscow was "planning genocidal acts in Ukraine", The Associated Press reported. 

But lawyers for Russia maintain the court "does not have jurisdiction" in this area. They have argued the Genocide Convention "cannot be used to regulate use of force by nations", the news agency added. 

In hearings that began today, "the ICJ's complete jurisdiction needs to be established", said DW. And legal expert Sergey Vasiliev, associate professor of law at the University of Amsterdam, told the news site that "the decision could go either way". 

The court's decision on its jurisdiction is expected to be made "relatively quickly in the coming months". 

If it rules that it can judge the case and it then subsequently rules in Ukraine's favour, it would be "a clear finding from the principal judicial organ of the United Nations that Russia should be held responsible as a state and that it may also be ordered to pay reparations", said Vasiliev. 

But he also pointed out that it could take "several years to get the final judgment".

The UN's 1948 Genocide Convention defines genocide as crimes committed "with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such".