In World Court, Indian Judge Votes Against Russia For Invading Ukraine
Categories: FOREIGN COUNTRIES
The UN's top court on Wednesday ordered Russia to suspend its invasion of Ukraine, saying it was "profoundly concerned" by Moscow's use of force. "The Russian Federation shall immediately suspend military operations that it commenced on 24 February on the territory of Ukraine," pending the final decision in the case, presiding judge Joan Donoghue told the International Court of Justice, or ICJ. "The court is profoundly concerned about the use of force by the Russian Federation which raises very serious issues in international law," Justice Donoghue told a hearing in The Hague.Kyiv dragged Moscow to the UN's top court days after Russia's attack on February 24.India's judge at the ICJ, Justice Dalveer Bhandari, also voted against Russia.Justice Bhandari voting against Russia was an independent move.India has abstained from voting on the Ukraine-Russia issue in the UN and instead called on both sides to focus on negotiations and end hostilities. Ukraine accuses Russia of illegally trying to justify its war by falsely alleging genocide in Ukraine's Donetsk and Lugansk regions. Kyiv then asked the ICJ to take provisional measures ordering Russia to "immediately suspend the military operations.""Russia must be stopped, and the court has a role to play in stopping that," Ukraine's representative Anton Korynevych told the ICJ last week.The hearing on Wednesday comes as the number of refugees fleeing Ukraine topped three million and Russian forces step u But the ICJ ruled it had jurisdiction in the case, with Justice Donoghue pointing out the ICJ currently "is not in the possession of evidence substantiating the allegation of the Russian Federation that genocide has been committed on Ukrainian territory."