On Monday, 23 September, a court in The Hague began hearing Ukraine’s lawsuit against Russia. This was reported by Komersant ukrainskyi
with reference to the the press service of the Of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
Hearings on the merits of Ukraine’s claim against the Russian Federation will take place from today until 5 October 2024 in the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Peace Palace in The Hague.
The case concerns Ukraine’s 2016 claim for violation of its sovereign rights in the Black and Azov Seas and the Kerch Strait.
Ukraine’s position is represented by Ambassador-at-Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Anton Korynevych. The Russian delegation is headed by Ambassador at Large Gennady Kuzmin.
Korynevych has already made a statement that Russia is deliberately restricting international shipping in the Azov Sea to take possession of it and the Kerch Strait. The country has illegally built the Kerch Bridge, which has created a permanent obstacle to navigation, in particular for large international vessels carrying Ukrainian goods.
As a reminder, on 14 September 2016, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine announced a lawsuit to the arbitration court regarding Russia’s violation of the law of the sea. In a statement, the ministry said that Ukraine is asking the court to confirm its rights as a coastal state and to order Russia to “cease internationally wrongful acts in the relevant maritime areas” in accordance with the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
In December 2018, a tribunal was formed to consider the case of Ukraine v. Russia under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.