Hearings in the case of accusing Russia of genocide against Ukraine are starting in the UN International Court of Justice, at the same time, hearings in the case of the downed MH17 will continue in Schiphol.

In particular, the hearings in the case of Ukraine v. Russia, which will be held on March 7-8 at the Peace Palace in The Hague, are devoted to the request to determine the interim measures requested by Ukraine. The hearings on the current COVID-19 pandemic will be held in a hybrid format: some members of the Court will personally attend the oral hearings in the Great Hall of Justice, some via video. Representatives of the parties to the case will take part in person or by video link.

On the first day of the hearing, word will be given to the Ukrainian side, on the second day, to the Russian side. On the eve of the hearings, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky by his decree determined the composition of the Ukrainian delegation, which included the Permanent Representative of the President to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Agent of Ukraine Anton Korynevych; Director of the Department of International Law of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Deputy Head of Delegation, Deputy Agent of Ukraine Oksana Zolotareva, Ambassador Olena Zerkal, Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Trade Representative of Ukraine Taras Kachka.

On the same day, hearings in the case of the downed Malaysia Airlines airliner on flight MH17 resumed at the Schiphol court complex. It is expected that one of the accused Oleg Pulatov will defend himself in this bloc. The last hearing in the trial took place on December 22 last year, during which the prosecutor demanded that all four defendants - Igor Girkin, Sergei Dubinsky, Oleg Pulatov and Leonid Kharchenko - be sentenced to life imprisonment.

Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 flying MH17 Amsterdam (Netherlands) - Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) was shot down in the sky over Donetsk region on July 17, 2014. All 298 people on board died. Two thirds of the passengers are Dutch nationals. The cause of the disaster is being investigated by the International Investigation Team, which includes representatives of law enforcement agencies from Ukraine, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia and Malaysia.

In September 2016, the group published conclusions that the liner was shot down by a missile launched from the Buk surface-to-air missile, and a year ago announced that Buk belonged to Russia's 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade stationed in Kursk.